My garden is coming into its own this week.  The flowering bushes and the plants that we planted a few weeks ago are blooming and fragrant.  I love May.  It is my birth month and no matter where I am I love how things are coming alive again after the winter.  When you live up north, the first sign of something green in your garden is so exciting.  I didn’t really think about it living down in the south but the same thing happens here.  Things go to sleep for the winter and then wake up and bloom in the spring.  I love gardenias and have three bushes in my garden that are blooming profusely right now.  Thus, I am cutting them and bringing them inside.  While I was studying this week, the gentle breeze blowing through the porch screen would waft the sweet scent of gardenia over me.  It was comforting and encouraging and it made me very happy.

Work this week came fairly easily.  I wasn’t stressed, no house guests or extra social events so I was able to pace myself very well.  The subject matter was not overly challenging.  I had two Health Histories scheduled for the middle of the week and was delighted how they worked out.  They were both using Skype and both times the technology worked perfectly.  One person was on the other side of the ocean, six hours and 3000 miles away.  By the way, I installed Skype on my iPad and was really pleased at how well it worked.  So for those of you with iPads, you might give it a try.  I hate to say it but it worked better than Facetime (oh, did I really say that???)

This week we were to practice having a single-pointed focus.  I don’t have one yet but I understand that it will be much simpler and easier if I do.  It is important to trust myself and to trust the process of school to get me to that point when the time is right.  Who knew there would be so much thinking involved in this work.

I found the lecture on preventive nutrition by Walter Willett, MD, DrPH,  to be right up my alley and know that I would like to spread that word if I could.  Dr. Willett is involved with a number of large studies.  Those listed on his website include:

1. the 121,700-member Nurses’ Health Study, initiated by Dr. Frank Speizer at the Channing Laboratory;

2. the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, a cohort of 52,000 men; and

3. the Nurses’ Health Study II, a cohort of younger women numbering 116,000

So many illnesses can be avoided by eating the foods that are right for you.  So many chronic diseases can and are cured or put into remission using the right combination of foods.  We are taught to experiment with diet with ourselves and that is exactly what I have done and I turned my life around.  Single-pointed focus?  I would like to do that for others who might be experiencing the same thing that I did.

We had a wonderful lecture on listening by Marilena Minucci, MS and I loved her phrase “Listen until you disappear” – that’s my homework for this week.  I can already feel it happening but there is much work to be done.  Listening has not been the easiest thing for me.  I find talking to be more my style but am learning more and more that asking high mileage questions and then giving the person space to answer can be a great gift.  To myself and to the person who is speaking.

Quick follow-up to previous posts.  I did get the kit to find out what my blood type is and I followed all the directions and sure enough it worked.  I am A+.  Nice to know.  Also, the pickles are delicious but for some reason the liquid has become quite cloudy.  Not sure why but, I used a tea bag for the tannin component, and that might be why it is so cloudy.

Busy week coming up – it is May after all.  When I worked in schools I would always say that the time after March break would run away to Graduation at the end of May.  I hope wherever you are that spring has come and that you are enjoying sunshine and the first flowers in your garden.  Have a wonderful week.

LuLu