Loving People, Living Art

"Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical." ~Sophia Loren

Lately, as I have been working, looking through photos and quotes, and trying to decorate my room, I have been enthralled with art, beauty, creativity. Some days I think I would like to do photography full time, then I think perhaps I could do it on the side, then I realize it might be most effective and rewarding when done in conjunction with caring for people. I don't know. I just know I want to pursue it more in some way. Perhaps you have some advice?

Here are some quotes from people wiser than myself along with thoughts from my own life...

"I feel there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people." ~Vincent van Gogh

Loving people and being loved is truly an art. In college, we talked about nursing as an art. That's because it is about caring for people. Every person is different, and you have the challenge of trying to connect with them in seconds, minutes, hours and convince them that you care and can be trusted. With each new patient, you begin afresh. Such was my experience with a 90-year-old mostly blind lady the last two days. So many people go in and out of the room and care for her, but she can't recognize them. She could come across a bit rude or abrupt at moments, but deep down, there was a heart that was living, throbbing, tender, yet a bit scared. If you were to ask me what the best part of my day was yesterday, I would reply that it was giving this lady a shower.

While in the shower, I learned about her past, her family, her loves, and her fears. Since she is blind, showing her a beautiful photograph wouldn't mean anything. Instead, I mentioned a couple of my favorite quotes...by Helen Keller. To my surprise, she joined me in quoting this: "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." That was a golden moment. As I washed her hair, I told her what a lovely white it was. She shared that when she was a girl, she knew a lady with the most beautiful white hair and hoped that hers would some day be like that. Well, when she was 21 her hair began to show some grey. She dyed it for a few years, but now has the purest white hair. To me, when someone shares something deep within the heart or memory, I catch my breath. I was trusted enough to get a glimpse into the deep places of the heart, the places where the only things are that really matter.

"Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose." ~Kevin Arnold

The second best part of the day? Thanks for asking. Perhaps it was threatening one of the doctors with a walker:) Or maybe it was walking out into the scattered snowflakes, or talking with my nurse orientee over lunch, or gazing at a sleeping, newborn baby, or watching little children in their element at a harvest party, or snuggling into a bed of flannel sheets for the first time this fall.

"To me, every hour of the day and night is an unspeakably perfect miracle." ~Walt Whitman

My 90-year-old friend was hallucinating about gremlins, goblins, and witches yesterday. I wondered what I would hallucinate about if I were hallucinating. Thankfully, instead, I had a wonderful dream last night!

"I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy." ~Rabindranath Tagore

"Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed." ~Storm Jameson

"It hurts to love someone and not be loved in return, but what is the most painful is to love someone and never find the courage to let the person know how you feel." ~Unknown

"Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Howard Thurman

I hope you are enjoying daily moments of the love and beauty that God has placed all around you and living, truly living in gratitude.