Yesterday, I had the great honor of being part of the Peregrine Institute for Oncology Massage Training's graduation of the "Gratitude Pod". I was asked to be there as a graduate of the program in October of 2008. My pod's name is the "Purification Pod". This group of 5 women had incredible final projects. I was particularly take with Mary Peifer's presentation on advances in administering chemotherapy at a time of the day when the medications/toxins are most effective in treating the cancer. It was simply fascinating. I stood by as "technical support" - loading up their PowerPoint presentation, DVD or accessing the web for video clips. The world is truly blessed to now receive this 5 new Warriors.
After final presentations, I joined the infamous circle, for the graduation ceremony. We each put a memento in the center of the circle and had an opportunity to talk about what it was and why it was important. Mary had brought a small container of garden soil from her home in Illinois. She talked about the rich, fertile quality of the soil and about planting seeds and the wonder of that process in which they grow. She likened it to the journey she and her classmates had been on. In addition, she brought 5 small rocks that were given to her by a 95 year old patient that she is responsible for in her Parrish Nursing job. She talked about how special this woman is and the time spent with her as she lives her last days or weeks. They lady is a woman of means and had traveled the world The wisdom she passed on to Mary is that the importance of her life was kept in two metal tins on her dresser. To Mary's surprise when she opened the tins - they contained rocks. This woman had collected rocks from all of her trips and they were important to her because she could touch the rocks and remember the special moments of all these travels. For this little lady, all the wealth, status and material things really held no importance in her life.
Nikki brought two items to the circle. One was a paper-doll, with the face of one of her Oncology Massage clients who had recently passed. This woman was nearly the same age as Nikki and had children of her own. It was obvious from the respect in Nikki's voice that she held her client in high regard and had to work through some of her own grief in loosing her mother to provide the care that this dying patient needed. The other item that Nikki brought to the circle was a geode from the Loess Hills in Iowa. Nikki's mother was an employee of the State of Iowa and was involved in grant writing for the preservation of Iowa's natural resources. Sadly, Nikki's Mom, passed away suddenly in early summer. The geode was a gift from fellow co-workers of her Mom to all of the grandchildren.
There was a hummingbird plaque brought by Marcie and she talked about how beautiful and special these little birds are to her family. She also talked about what hummingbirds meant to her. Anna Marie brought a gourd filled with sea salt and related it to a cartoon she saw of a goat struggling up a precipice to get to salt. This she thought represented her struggle to get though this intensive program.
And my beautiful friend, Iris (from Hawaii) brought a rock. She had worked with a woman for many years in Hawaii and then the woman moved to Santa Fe. This friend of hers was not a massage therapist, but they had spend time together discussing massage and Iris had mentioned that she needed to get some rocks (for heated stone therapy). Her friend, not knowing really what she needed, presented a little brown rock to Iris. And in her kind and gentle way, Iris smiled and thanked her for the gift and it has since been rolling around in her purse. Ahhhh, to be as kind and gentle as Iris!
Lastly, I added something to the circle. Iris and I started this program together in 2006. At that time, I was working full time at Communications Data Services as a Trainer and doing massage on a part-time basis. It was a struggle to keep up with both, but it was manageable. I was having a hard time deciding whether or not to leave Corporate America and jump into running my own business full time. We discussed this within my group and it caused me some heartbreak and reflection. A week or so after coming home from this training session, a little box arrived. Inside that little box was a small ceramic piece. On on side it is white with a beautiful red heart, on the opposite side it is light blue and in white lettering it says, "Follow Your Heart". This, I too, have carried around in my coin purse since I received it.
This experience was all about a homecoming....these months in Santa Fe, have not really been so much about attending Acupuncture School as they have been about finding my home. Finding that place in my heart that is just too special to abandon. It has been about finding my way back to what is so important and then locking in on this special sphere and then acting in a way to make a difference in the world. Now that I'm back on track - I have some work to do! I thank God for this time to reflect.
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