So I haven't played the guitar as much this week as I would have liked and when I finally picked it up, I struggled a bit with it. My fingers felt awkward and slow. It hurt again to really push the chords down. It seems like it only takes a few days for those skills to leave me, which gives me a little more motivation to practice more regularly, even if not for the full hour.
The information regarding Clark, Ennevor and Richardson's (1996) work relates to my new occupation in a few different ways. I'm not incorporating this occupation into my life as I recover from a disability. However, learning the guitar is embedded in my personal story. I think it sticks out as an occupation unlike most I've done and excelled at before. I don't have any other music related occupations in my life. All other stints with musical instruments have been short lived. So, it could be a turning point if I continue to which I ascribe meaning if it becomes the moemtn I started viewing myself as having slight musical ability (since I've always ascribed myself has having none).
As I move forward with the occupation and if I choose to embed it into my daily life, I could make a story about myself with this occupation in mind. I don't have anyone coaching me through this and helping me evoke insights about myself but I do think that I can identify the symbolic dimensions of increased ability to perform the occupation and I think I can shft my personal identity and reconstruct it to include this occupation without help from an OT.
In Lessons on Living, More Schwartz seemed to identify strongly with the occupation of social participation. It seemed to me that it was his most meaningful occupation and he said that once he wasn't able to interact with others, he felt that would be a great signifier of the decline in his quality of life and perhaps it would be time to end his life then. Once diagnosed, he spent his last months on the planet connecting with others, showing his love and compassion for others, and connecting and forming new relationships. In his last days, he mentioned he took up a spiritual practice (meditation) to help him address the hard moments ahead so that he may find purpose and peace with the process. He was able to shift his view or perspective to take on a larger one of being the ocean and not the wave - which exemplifies the idea of meditative thinking (versus calculative). Despite his painful and trying time, he showed great resilience by not hiding from the topic of death but openly engaging in conversations about it. He found a purpose in educating and raising awareness to the progression of the disease and spurning conversations around our nation about the process of dying. All of these techniques made the process less painful and more personally satisfying, I'm sure not only to him but to all those he touched.
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ReplyDeleteLiz,
ReplyDeleteIn my guitar playing journey I would also say I am beginning to create a story with this occupation in mind. Although I have a long ways to go to make it part of my identity, I can at least say I made it through the initial storymaking and envisioning myself part!!
Liz would you also say that his analogy of the ocean and the wave would be an example of content re-framing?
As far as understanfing, do you think that the unknown of an afterlife and therefore a lack of understanding, affected More's full satisfaction as he explained as continuous fear and saddened states? I suppose it does as it is included in King's model of life.
Yes! You're right, a lot of what Morrie talked about was reframing - like his meditation coach challenging him to consider that death and life might not have a huge chasm between them. I'm not sure if it's the fear of the unknown that is the problem as much as having trust that life is happening as it is supposed to, which does relate to King et. al.'s work that talked about participants using spirituality to provide meaning and peace with the difficulties. I think a lot of suffering comes from the idea that we have totally autonomy in life and a lack of belief in being part of a bigger picture. Again, back to calculative versus meditative thinking - seeing life bigger than the small tasks and roles we play everyday.
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