Integration :: Elsah Cort's Blog

The Secret Gardener...

This morning I watched a large (brilliant blue) blue jay fly to the ground near my house with a big pointy green acorn in its beak. He then pushed away some of the dry weeds that were missed by the weedeater this summer, and pounded the acorn into the ground. First time I have seen my secret gardener in action.

No wonder I have a valley oak growing so close by near the bedroom window, putting me in such a dilemma for the last couple of years. I just could not pull it up, and it tapped down its long root so fast and deep.  In five years or so, it will obstruct the view from the window.  But, in 10 years maybe it can be used to prop up the house, which is leaning a bit in that direction.

And now, a new tree may be sprouting any day thanks to my secret blue jay gardener.

No, this is not this morning's blue jay, or my own photo. It's from birdwatchingdaily.com.

 

A message from the heart to nurses working in the trenches...

It has been a long while since I actually worked in a hospital. My last position was in home health, which turned out to be one of the most stressful (and rewarding) nursing work I had ever done in my many years as a nurse. But, I remember, acutely and clearly, all my days quickly walking down hospital halls and trying to get it all done. I used to call that pace my “nurse’s walk.” Today’s nurse is walking faster than I ever did, and with much fewer fellow nurses on the team. The stress has become an accepted part of the job, something that you just handle and “man-up” in dealing with it.

At present I am not working as a nurse for an employer, but I am always working as a nurse in my life. Learning to be a nurse and working as a nurse has taught me skills that intersect with all aspects of my life. Even organizing my kitchen or combing the fleas from my cat, and of course, making my bed (I remember well the instruction of how to get the sheets tight without any wrinkles) come from my nursing days. I blend the compassion and sensitivity from my nursing into my art-making and craniosacral work, and it infiltrates into almost every aspect of my bed and breakfast hosting.

This retreat, which I call “Re-Membering the Healer’s Spirit”, was born in my mind in all the many years I worked as nurse. I see it as a rest stop for a nurse, one that is more that just resting and doing nothing (although it could be.)  It is a hopeful container for a new true respite, where you can discover and connect with your essence. The sorrowful thing is that many nurses don’t often recognize rest stops, and don’t feel they even deserve one. So not as many nurses have come to this beautiful place where I live, which is a huge part of the potential for transformation in the retreat, as I had hoped for the past few years.

I have been told I could “market” this retreat differently, but I can’t quite connect with that frame of mind. I see it as a simple gift you give to yourself.

After forty-two years, and counting (45 years if you count nursing school), I still see myself always as a nurse, a person who cares and wants to be of service. This retreat is an offering I hold in my hand and heart, extended warmly to those in need, working in the trenches of the modern and challenging nursing world.

"Become", an image from the Earth Series © Elsah Cort