Life Purpose : Sheparding the walking wounded
October 2nd 2010 13:59
I hope the PC (politically correct) crowd won't crucify me if I use the word cripple, or perhaps I could fall back to "the walking wounded." I can display wicked bites of humor. Usually it's among long-time friends, and rarely have I let the ironically funny thoughts that come to me about disability make it into public forums, or print. I have a skewed sense of propriety...I know it. By covering up that part of myself on most occasions, however, some may find me too quiet, humorless, even sullen. Clearly I'm not authentic in those occasions that I'm publicly divided on whether to blurt something out.
John Callahan, American Cartoonist, recently passed away. And while I'm sure he lived about as authentically humor-filled as few get a chance to, I wonder how long it took him to develop the confidence to be the blatantly offensive humorist I'm sure he was meant to be? Other folks had to have a load of confidence to print his cartoons. He got his publishing break within the pages of an Oregon newspaper.
So, beyond my concern for how to best title this post, I came here with a different purpose in mind. I wanted to chew on the idea that I may be formulating a new avenue of work. Communication has been a driving interest of mine. It hasn't always been my top talent in every career move. It's been two decades since I completed a Bachelor's degree. In the just this past decade however, regardless of the advances in technology, and instead at a personal level, my interpersonal communication has greatly developed beyond what it was in the first decade since finishing college. I am much more interested in what other people communicate with each other, and their motivations. I don't know if this is commonly surprising or not -- but, college had me rather focused on what I could tell the world, not what the world could tell me.
As the health care policies of the United States begin to change in 2011, the greatest benefits of the changes go to those who actively seek out preventive care. Problem with that is, I do not think many Americans are trained to interact with the medical profession that way. Just the opposite. So many, myself a prime example, avoid the doctor. My usual thought process takes into account whether I can effectively communicate my symptoms to a medical professional. If I don't understand what's impacting my body, I don't have the greatest level of confidence in success before the doctors and nurses. So, what I'm really avoiding is the futility of handing over $20 and failing to perform correctly. The system, in the past, rewarded uncertainty. You pay the $20 or more co-pay over and over again until the cause is determined and then the medicine payments begin. No wonder Americans avoid going to the doctor for preventative care!
How will we break ourselves out of this cycle? I'd like to think there's an opportunity for a person to communicate to others -- especially the most stubborn of us -- how to take care.
John Callahan, American Cartoonist, recently passed away. And while I'm sure he lived about as authentically humor-filled as few get a chance to, I wonder how long it took him to develop the confidence to be the blatantly offensive humorist I'm sure he was meant to be? Other folks had to have a load of confidence to print his cartoons. He got his publishing break within the pages of an Oregon newspaper.
So, beyond my concern for how to best title this post, I came here with a different purpose in mind. I wanted to chew on the idea that I may be formulating a new avenue of work. Communication has been a driving interest of mine. It hasn't always been my top talent in every career move. It's been two decades since I completed a Bachelor's degree. In the just this past decade however, regardless of the advances in technology, and instead at a personal level, my interpersonal communication has greatly developed beyond what it was in the first decade since finishing college. I am much more interested in what other people communicate with each other, and their motivations. I don't know if this is commonly surprising or not -- but, college had me rather focused on what I could tell the world, not what the world could tell me.
As the health care policies of the United States begin to change in 2011, the greatest benefits of the changes go to those who actively seek out preventive care. Problem with that is, I do not think many Americans are trained to interact with the medical profession that way. Just the opposite. So many, myself a prime example, avoid the doctor. My usual thought process takes into account whether I can effectively communicate my symptoms to a medical professional. If I don't understand what's impacting my body, I don't have the greatest level of confidence in success before the doctors and nurses. So, what I'm really avoiding is the futility of handing over $20 and failing to perform correctly. The system, in the past, rewarded uncertainty. You pay the $20 or more co-pay over and over again until the cause is determined and then the medicine payments begin. No wonder Americans avoid going to the doctor for preventative care!
How will we break ourselves out of this cycle? I'd like to think there's an opportunity for a person to communicate to others -- especially the most stubborn of us -- how to take care.
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