Nancy Bauser: “Recovery [from traumatic Brain Injury] is not only making progress. It’s taking one step.”

Nancy suffered a head injury in 1971and another last November. She demonstrates how people recovering from Traumatic Brain Injuries must live. Thus rather than a conversation this podcast is a presentation Nancy has prepared for a Service Providers Conference in August…

Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) is not new. They are the signature injuries of the current wars. There they are the result of explosive blasts. In civilian life they used to result from auto crashes. Now with the use of seat belts, they commonly result from head injuries occurring in abusive situations or sports.

TBI’s are classified by several scales. The easiest scale ranges from mild, thru moderate to severe. The mildest form is also called a concussion.

After her injury in 1971, Nancy returned to college and earned an MSW. She has won several awards for her work with others recovering from Traumatic Brain injuries.

Over the years she thrived, and struggled and survived. Although she earned an advanced degree, she could not function in the mainstream. She was unaware of her social deficits. She tells how she learned ways to function better in social situations.

Now she is a Disability Life coach. She focuses upon fellow suffers from Traumatic Brain Injuries.

Her conclusions of how to live with her disability can serve us well.

In this interview she shared three lessons she has learned:

  1. Choose to work on 1 goal at a time. This way you can put many small steps together into one large triumph.
  2. Choose different role models so you can try new things
  3. Believe in yourself.

She mentioned a handout: Thoughts to Remember

These are statements that I quietly say to myself all of the time. This first statement is at the core of all those that follow. It is;

  1. I believe in me & whatever it takes, eventually I will do it!
  2. Failure is Not an Option.
  3. Survivors Don’t Quit Trying to improve their lives.
  4. Take One Step at a Time
  5. Complete each & every task before moving on to another.

She has an upcoming book, “Accept, thrive and survive: a guide for caregivers and survivors”

You can learn more by visiting her website http://www.survivoracceptance.com/

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The Forest of our Brain

Our Brains are like Forests. They develop and change over our lifetimes. They grow, evolve, mature and continue to evolve over our life spans. There are many things we can do to improve them and keep them healthy.

When our parents conceived us there were two cells, neither was a nerve cell. Over the first few weeks those cells multiplied. Some cells became neural tissues. They further evolved to form the various parts of our nervous system. This is like a forest after the ground has been laid bare. Many seeds land on it. Some were blown there by the wind and others dropped by birds.

Some of the seeds will take root and grow; others get eaten by birds and little animals. The birds and animals prefer different seeds. Therefore, only a few remain. This sorting resembles the differentiation of cells, each finding the right conditions to grow and do their thing. By our birth there are so many cells it resembles a tangled mess.

After birth this mass of cells begins to sort itself out. Like little animals scurrying about, some thoughts are common. Pathways emerge. As new cells grow they grow around these paths protecting the cells farther from the path and encouraging the animals to follow the pathways. With use these paths become better established and easier for our animals or neural signals to travel.

If a potential path or part of this forest does not get used another use emerges. This has been noted in children whose eyes don’t function. The visual part of the brain finds other uses by about age 3.

As the brain develops, more sophisticated sets of nerve cell connections emerge and are reinforced with use. Thus the more practice we get in walking the more those neurons and pathways become set. As a child learns to stand, walk, and then run the neural pathways get better developed.

Like a forest our brains get nourished by the rest of our world or body. Nerve cells need energy in the form of sugar that they take from the blood. The specialization of nerve cells prevents them from making energy from other foods or storing sugar. Thus when our blood sugars fall after a meal our brains don’t function as well.

When our brains get a sudden burst of sugar they go a little wild. We see that in children who get “sugar highs.”

The brain cells need other materials or nutrients as well. These are called vitamins and minerals. When they become deficient we see changes. Many such states exist.

A Pellagra epidemic occurred in the US 100 years ago due to such a deficiency. Pellagra is a disease that involves skin changes and other things including mental sharpness. The mental changes can lead to a form of delirium. In the early 1900’s a method of commercially preparing corn meal became common. It removed part of the corn kernel that contained most of the niacin. Poor and institutionalized people ate large amounts of this cheap food. Over time, the lack of niacin resulted in the symptoms of Pellagra. When niacin rich foods were added to the diets these symptoms reversed.

These vitamin and mineral deficiencies take time to occur and resolve. However, certain types of foods can change our moods more quickly. We all have “feel good” foods we seek in times of stress. They may provide nutrients that we need or trigger memories. Family’s often have celebratory menus that contain special foods.

We associate Turkey with Thanksgiving. If Thanksgiving creates happy memories then turkey might stimulate those feelings for you. As adults these family events are often stressful. Thus turkey might not be a favorite food.

With good nutrition our nervous systems continue to evolve.

As the body changes so do the neural connections. For a while it seems easier for a small child to run than walk. As the legs get longer they revert to walking. Trees replace the shrubs and vines in our brains. The trees allow for our thoughts and behaviors to change. We become more mature.

We find that these paths represent thought patterns and behaviors. With effort we can change these thought patterns and behaviors.

Some of the thought patterns that we form don’t serve us. We might have learned these from our parents or other examples. A child who constantly gets the message that he is “bad” will learn that about himself. He will struggle to find a positive self-image. Likewise a child who is never “Bad” will not learn to accept criticism.

While some infants seem very happy and others always irritable, the way they are treated can reinforce or temper these traits. Thus common life events for a child who is susceptible to feeling one way will get that way reinforced.

Events that make us depressed reinforce our depressed pathways. Happy events reinforce our happy pathways. If one of these paths is already better established then that pathway will prevail.

A person who responds with fear when presented with an image can learn to not fear those images. Phobias are a key example. With conscious effort you can unlearn to fear something. That does not mean that the fears will not return but you can overcome them.

This process has been applied to depression and other emotional problems. If we choose a happy path then over time that becomes the path we follow. The unhappy path still exists and when a bear starts chasing us thru the forest we might take that unhappy path again. That is one way we can end up depressed again.

Storms strike our forest in the forms of traumatic events. Those traumas might be physical or emotional but cause trees to fall and block paths. It will be difficult to follow our usual paths of behavior. Over time and with effort we can find ways around the fallen trees and back to familiar behaviors.

We see the results of these storms in the form of post-traumatic stress. One or more events sear memories into a part of our brain. Anything that brings our thoughts near that area prompts us to recall the event. By planting and nurturing happy thoughts around that memory event, we can restore that burned area of our brain. The scars will remain but we will find a more normal forest as our thoughts approach it.

Substances our bodies produce also affect our brains. Hormones like adrenaline and cortisol change what parts of our brains are active. They shunt blood to emotional centers and away from the more sophisticated thought areas. This helps in time of danger but over time leads to atrophy of the higher thought areas.

People exposed to constant danger or stress does not perform like their peers. We see this in abused children. For years after the abuse ends, their thoughts and dreams relive these events, sometimes in the forms of conscious thoughts and other times as emotions. They might be less mature.

Drugs and other substances also affect our brains. Some slow the activity of our thoughts and calm us. Others help our thoughts find their way to different moods. Antidepressants keep our thoughts from ending up in Depression.

Other chemicals like alcohol and street drugs also affect our brains. They have immediate and long term effects. Small amounts of alcohol calm us, and lessen depression, but in large amounts impair memory and make us more depressed.

Thus to keep our brains healthy we need to treat them well with good food and nutrition and good exercise. A varied diet will offer the good nutrition.

Exercising our brain is more complicated. We can connect our memories with positive thoughts, replacing negative and depression or fear generating ones.

With practice the pathways that enable us to speak and move our bodies improve. We learn language by exposure and repetition. Dance becomes more fluid with practice as well.

Like a forest change seems rapid at first and then slows. Tall trees take time to grow and bear the scars of events that happened over that time. Older brains are more set in their ways. They can recall more experiences related to the thoughts they have.

They might be better able to weather life’s storms. The damage a storm might cause now will be harder to heal. Yet the ways we learn to heal life’s wounds make us more resilient.

Thus, like a forest our brains change constantly. Our current environment determines how we function and feel. We can influence how they function both in the present moment and over time.

What sort of forest do you want your brain to become?

As all Ways, Seek Joy,

Inspired or enabled?

Is she Inspirational or enabled by her disability?

She learned to live in her body. It may be quite different from most, but it works for her.

Others might get inspired because they fear having to live with such a different body. Yet, we all have differences in our bodies. A man’s body is quite different from a woman’s. Both have lots of others to share and learn with. How would we learn to live in such a different body?

As she grew up her parents and other adults would need to find resources outside of their own experience. That would open them to a much richer world of people and ways of doing things.

What do such stories tell us?

When the Stress of Disability overwhelms you, what do you do?

Life can be stressful before the additional stress of a Disability. When many forms of stress exist in your life it can be overwhelming. How might you overcome these stresses?

What is Stress anyway?

In simple terms Stress is an imbalance of forces. The forces we face in life are many. I like to think of them in four categories; physical, emotional, social and spiritual.

The physical forces in our lives are those things that keep our bodies functioning. Food, water, rest and exercise are key among them.

The emotional stresses in our lives can result from the physical aspect of who we are. Emotions result from the release of hormones by our brains. The impulses our brains receive from our bodies and the environment determine which parts of the brain get triggered and which hormones are released.

Social stresses are those rules of conduct that come into play as we engage with others. We learn and re-learn them. They change as our social roles change.

Spiritual stress occurs when we are afraid we are out of alignment with the Universe. Religion taught us this system and our society reinforces it. Our life experiences reinforce our beliefs even further.

The presence of a disability adds more stress in all these areas of our lives.

We name Disabilities by the limitations they add to our lives. A broken leg impedes our ability to move. Thus the major stress it causes is physical. Yet, the pain and inflammation of the injury changes the hormones our brains release and then our emotions are affected.

These physical and emotional changes impact our interactions with others. If we are a parent, lifting a child and caring for them has new limitations which can cause stress. You can respond to your stress by teaching your child new skills or getting outside help.

We might ask the spiritual question, “Why did this happen to me?” One immediate answer a simple injury provides usually suffices. “This too will pass.”

The combination of normal stresses with those added by a broken leg will require changes. Since we know that the leg will mend in a few weeks or months, we allow ourselves to accept those changes. We rest and use crutches. Others around us step forward to ease our personal and social loads. We expect that we will return to our pre – injury life. There will be memories that will need integration into our brains. Those memories will not take over our brains or our identity.

A stroke or brain injury may give us a similar physical disability, but could create more stress. Recovery will take longer and may not be complete. We will always see ourselves as vulnerable. This episode will haunt us the rest of our lives. We may ask ourselves, “Did God play a role in this?”

If our leg was amputated as a result of the injury, even more stress enters our lives. We can’t hope to return to our pre-injury selves.

How do we handle the stress of Disability and life together?

First, we need to pause. The more overwhelmed we find ourselves the longer this takes. When we try to avoid this simple step we compound the problem. A parent worries their broken leg might cause them to drop their child.

If we as parents feel this way it is important to pause for a moment and let ourselves settle down. Taking time to be still allows our bodies to proceed thru several phases. First, our brains released stress or threat hormones. The stress hormones allow us to deal with the acute situation. They need about 30 minutes to get out of our systems. During this time we tend to pace and not think clearly.

Minor injuries recover during this phase. With a broken leg or stroke we are headed to the hospital. This will force us to take the next step.

Meditation and similar practices can help us transition to the next phase – focus and assessment.

We need to focus and assess our situation. Wearing a cast on our leg and walking with crutches will limit our mobility. A stroke usually means a stay in the hospital. Both interrupt our normal daily patterns. Our natural desire to return to our previous life activities will make us aware of the differences.

During these pauses we assess our situation and make plans. In the emergency room most of us can plan our lives with the broken leg. Strokes require more complicated assessments and plans.

The pain of a broken leg seems mostly physical. The pain responds to pain killers. Rarely do these medications cause serious changes although some of us become habituated or even addicted.

The consequences of a stroke or amputation seem more emotional, social and spiritual. Doctors and nurses have learned to address these “pains.” Clergy (inside and outside of the hospital) can help with the spiritual “pains.” All these professionals have a ways to go before they achieve the same quality of relief provided by the “pain meds.”

So, have we dealt with the Stresses of Disability and Life?

Only to the extent that we have been forced to do so do we deal with the Stresses of Life and Disability. The Stresses of Disability and Life can cause us to pause in other ways.

Instead of overwhelming us physically, it may take an emotional or social form. We have all gone thru emotional outbursts. We yelled at others when we did not mean to. We failed to meet social obligations. Sometimes others forced us to look at our situation. A boss might reprimand or fire us. A friend or partner may avoid us.

In all these situations we can use the same process: pause, focus, assess, plan and work with it.

When overwhelmed by Stress, Pause, let your self cry or get drunk. Then you will be focused.

You will ask yourself “What happened?” Usually we only focus upon the immediate situation, but to really heal we need to look deeper.

Why did that situation upset us? Did it upset everyone we know? Why not? What differences exist between you and the others who were not upset by the event?

These are the assessment questions that allow us to make plans.

Living out the new plans we made is hard work. Most of us need help. Family, friends and life Coaches can help with the process of assessing, planning and living the plans.

The Process of Overcoming the Stress of Life and Disability is this:
Pause and let the acute situation settle,
Focus your attention on what happened, (The more traumatic the more issues the focus needs to encompass),
Assess the cause and options,
Plan to go forward, and then live out your plan.

When you keep getting overwhelmed, get Help.

As All Ways, Seek Joy,

Resolved the Paradox of being Able when “Disabled”

Discovering that you are “Able” when disabled seems like a paradox. When we accept that we are “Disabled” how can we think of ourselves as Able, too? Let us explore this Paradox.

What is a Paradox?

A Paradox exists when two or more things that seem to be opposites exist at the same time. For example, many of us have contemplated why People do Bad things when they think of themselves as Good?

For those of us who accept that we have a Disability, trying to discover our Abilities seems like a Paradox. Knowing that we are not able to do some things makes us expect we cannot do most things.

How can we resolve the Paradox of Ability in the face of Disability?

Most of us just ignore our limitations. We struggle with the tasks of life never realizing what we can and can’t do.

For those born with their “Disability”, they discovered early that others could do things they could not. Most of us realize that we have some sort of limitation. A lot of us discovered we can’t be stars in the classroom or on the athletic field. Then we realize that quite a few of those around us are not Stars either.

When our limitations deprive us of a big part of what others experience, it has a different impact. Lisa Larges (in her podcast interview) discussed this. Being visually impaired became part of her identity, just like being female. She has the benefit of sharing blindness with her sister. Still they each have to make their way in a sighted world.

We might also choose to pick one label and ignore the other. Few can live thinking of themselves as Bad. We kill animals; yet think of all life as sacred.

We may choose to embrace one option and ignore the other. We run a red light and excuse it by saying;
we needed to get home early.

How many other paradoxes do you see people living with on a daily basis?

Trying to resolve a Paradox can lead us to deeper truths and understanding.

The two options might not be true opposites. There might be “Shades of Gray.” We all have different abilities to balance. Some are faster than others. Thus fast or slow are relative and – not opposite.

We might see exceptions to the rule. “It is Ok to run a red light if no one gets hurt.” Some sports even allow for this. Take the Advantage rule in Soccer… The ref need not call a fowl when there is no advantage gained by it.

All of these attempts are superficial. They don’t allow us to see how opposites might not be opposite in reality.

After World War II existential philosophers decided that good and bad were labels we placed on events. The events themselves – like War and genocide – were not truly good or bad. They happened for reasons some of which most people would label as bad but others label as good.

We might say that being able or disabled are labels we accept for ourselves. Few blind people havbe no light perception at all. Those that do are able to locate things around them by other means. Some have developed their hearing to the extent that they can locate objects in a room upon entering.

Others seem to know where they are by different means. I have a totally blind friend who can tell us where we are wile riding in a car. The sounds of the city change in so many ways. The car turns and swerves. How often do we get disoriented driving in a strange city at night? Yet she always seems to know where we are.

We might also resolve a paradox by looking at how the opposites came to be. “White Privilege” can be looked upon that way. In prior generations whites were able to assert themselves over others on the basis of race. Thus, white people have privileges they inherited. They learned that what others see as a privilege was the norm. White Americans saw police as friends. We now see that Black Americans do not view the police the same way.

Slavery in America led to this White Privilege. The Early Colonists had slaves of all races. As the number of slaves increased, it became hard to tell slave and free apart. Race became an easy way to divide people and their social roles and rights.

In time, we agreed to end Slavery. Many see Racism in America as one of slavery’s legacies.

Disability probably came about when some could not keep up with the crowd and needed other accommodations. The Term Handicap came about because those with disabilities were allowed to beg, “Cap In hand”.

Getting Social Security to classify you as “Disabled gives you protection under the ADA. Could this be a modern version of Handicap? A label of being “less than” gives you advantages.

Another way we might resolve a paradox is by looking at the outcomes. Political views are often strongly held. Both sides think they are correct and justified. They refuse to see the other side as valid.

We might see this political paradox as enabling us to get along with someone else’s viewpoint. If our opinion that those who receive Disability Insurance payments are drains on society gets accepted by others it will also become the opinion of the group who are rejected to receive disability payments. We end up in two camps. Those camps reinforce our views of Disability Insurance.

Being in one or the other camp meets our needs for community. At least until we become disabled and dependent. Then life has forced us into the camp that likes Disability Insurance.

Can a paradox teach us more?

We can look to what is common in the opposites. Political Party affiliation results in meeting our needs for community and affirms world views.

Racism enables us to anticipate others behaviors and backgrounds. We all need to be able to anticipate danger and find friends in a crowd. Most of our Prejudices do this poorly. We need to find other ways to do this.

Thus, pondering a paradox can offer us new solutions.

Understanding why people affiliate with one political party or the other suggests that we could also create communities around other activities or issues.

Pondering race and gender discrimination leads to other solutions. Experience with others of different races or genders allow us to recognize friends and anticipate foes.

Accepting the label of, “Blind” allowed me to make friends who were also experiencing blindness or low vision in their lives. My fully sighted wife does not enjoy the gatherings of my blind associates.

So we might ponder a paradox by asking:
How did the two opposites come about?
What are the benefits common to both of the opposites?
How might we gain the benefits without going to either extreme?

As All Ways, Seek Joy,

David Hilfiker: Physician’s Depression healed by his Patients

We physicians often suffer from Depression. We find it difficult to follow the admonishment, “Physician, heal thy self”. More often it is others who help us heal. David Hilfiker found that by being more open with his patients and others much of the struggles he had in life healed.

He has blogged about much of this at his website www.davidhilfiker.com

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When people disagree, they are questioning reality

We often disagree about what is reality. This causes us pain and leads to anger. Is it possible that we can resolve this dilemma by looking at what we know as reality?

What is Reality anyway?

If the majority of us are so certain that we know what is real then why do we disagree?

It is well known that when two or more people witness an event they often describe it very differently. Some times their descriptions sound like two different events. Why is that?

We take in the events from the world around us thru our eyes and other sense organs. But our eyes don’t see the same thing. Yes, we think we see the same things with both eyes, but the images our brains receive are actually different. Our eyes are located on two opposite sides of our faces. Thus they have a different angle on the object we are observing. This difference in the images allows us to track objects and catch them.

How we hear sounds is even more complicated. Our ears are located on two sides of our heads and they distort the sound. The shape of our earlobes helps us to determine if a sound is coming from in front or behind us.

IF you don’t believe this try an experiment. Close your eyes and focus your attention on a sound. Now turn your head and see what happens to it. Does it sound louder with your head in a certain position?

Next, cup your hands behind your ears. Focus on a sound and then move your hands. Does the sound change?

When I tried this I noticed that sounds coming from a few feet in front of me are loudest. This is the area where people who are visually impaired are taught to position their white canes. Positioning the cane in this way informs the cane user what is in front of the user’s feet so they can determine where to take their next step. Using this caning technique prevented me from falling down stairs a number of times.

Thus the distortions our eyes and ears make while perceiving the world can help us. Our eyes assist us to track objects and catch things. Our ears prevent us from stepping on things.

If our eyes and ears distort what our brain receives, what else happens to the world as we become aware of it?

In our brains the signals from our eyes, ears, and other senses move along various neural pathways. First, they pass thru basic parts of our brains to determine whether or not the sensory input represents a threat. If a threat is detected then those parts of the brain that signal survival responses get activated. Our hands are already withdrawing from a flame before we realize they are being burned.

It is hard to overcome such reflexes. If we have a pain in our foot or knee we walk with a limp. By looking at how someone limps I can determine where the pain is before I even speak to my patient. Try it next time you see someone limp.

Next, the signals go to the areas of the brain where more complicated responses are elicited. These signals also serve to protect us. These areas (when activated) prepare us to fight or flee. We stop and focus our attention on the source of the stimuli. Hormones are then released so we can decide to either run or defend ourselves. We call this attention to the brain signals the startle and respond scenario.

For example the toot of a car’s horn can elicit this type of a response. It draws the driver’s attention to the events going on around him or her. The vehicle operator can then sort out what response to the horn blast is needed.

The response a driver chooses depends upon how he sorts out the additional information he receives. If it came from a car next to him, he might need to swerve to avoid colliding with another vehicle. If we are driving an unfamiliar car we might over or under steer.

Once I flipped a new car because I over-corrected while making a turn. If I had been in my old car I could have swerved a little less and missed the bicycle safely. In the new car I was unsure of exactly how far to turn to the left.

Thus what we sense from the world gets changed by the time we are aware of it. Psychologists have studied this in great depth. As a signal travels thru our brains it connects with more and more of the memories we stored.

This connecting a new event with past events enables us to recognize faces and greet a friend or avoid an enemy.

When we see someone who reminds us of a friend we relax and are more open. If the new person reminds us of someone who we fear we shy away. This constitutes a pre-judgment. If that person turns out to really be hostile we call it a good judgment of character. When the person turns out not to be dangerous we regard our assessment as a Prejudice.

Since the events stored in my brain are different from anyone else’s, the way I understand an event will differ from everyone else. This means I experience reality in ways unique to me.

If we see sticks as snakes, or even worse see snakes as sticks, there are problems. We won’t respond in an appropriate manner. We call those situations hallucinations.

Knowing how our brains filter what we see in the world around us enables us to understand why others don’t see things our way. It can also give us a glimpse into why others see things the way they do.

Next time you find yourself disagreeing with someone pause and ask yourself, “Why do I see it in my unique way?” What might be prompting the other to see it their way?

If each of us did this what would happen to the issues that divide us?

Could we use our perceptual information to discover our Prejudices and confront them?

As All Ways, Seek Joy

Thomas Gates, Back from near death experience

At age 22 Thomas Gates went thru a near death experience after his appendix ruptured. He talks about this and the spiritual truths discovered as a result.

About 14 years later he discovered that he could see into people’s body’s and heal them. He talks about his gift of “Spectrum Healing”.

You can learn more about Thomas’s amazing story at www.ThomasGates.com

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Spirituality Helps You Thrive when Disabled

When Disability grips you and there seems no hope, many find that Spirituality rescues them. What is Spirituality, anyway?

The spiritual world does not seem real to us. As we grow and developed we experience solid objects. They become the reality of our lives. We get hungry and thirsty. We get cold and hot.

Yet in the midst of a disabilities grip we experience more. We feel alone. We feel despair. We seek more.

In seeking more than the physical we enter the Spiritual or mystical realm. Yet this seems so unreal. Unlike the physical reality of hunger and thirst, the spiritual seems transient.

For some the Reality of the Spiritual enters their lives unbidden. Those who have had “near Death experiences” tell us that more than the physical exists.

I recently met such a person, Thomas Gates. A near death experience changed his life. In his story he tells what it was like and how returning to his body became unreal. You can learn more about it at his website.

How else might we experience the spiritual?

None of us wants to die. Yet in the depths of the Abyss of Disability we seek more than the physical.

Our society is at odds with the spiritual. The influencers of our Western Society encourage us to achieve personal profit and power. They provide entertainment to distract us. Entertainment struggles to express many things. Among them is the spiritual.

Religion attempts to institutionalize the spiritual for society. When it can provide a spiritual experience that resonates with the masses, religion grows in popularity.

When Religion fails to meet our personal needs we look elsewhere. Local religious leaders often fail to understand and express a theology of Disability that resonates with those of us who experience it in a personal way.

Many go from one community of faith to another. When we feel accepted and no longer alone, we stay. We have experienced a social bonding. Yet deep spirituality transcends social bonds.

All people can share their experiences of the spiritual. Leaders can try to create opportunities for us to experience the spiritual. Those communities create spaces for people to open themselves to the spiritual. For many, spirituality is not about the place but the mental space.

We receive some of the benefits of a Spiritual connection from Regular Spiritual practices. You can learn such practices from your local religious leader. IF this fails you can seek out your own spiritual advisor or teacher. If you feel comfortable with a particular tradition then look to that tradition.

Recently many have sought out other ways of accessing the Spiritual. One site where you can explore different types of meditation is The School of Light and Life.

Yet for many of us the Spiritual moments come unbidden and often unrecognized. This is when a spiritual advisor can help you. They can suggest alternatives and resources.

How did you discover the World of Spirituality?

How do you enter it?

As All Ways, Seek Joy