Itsa Village

An Acronym to Help Notice Stroke Symptoms

When I read the easy way to remember stroke symptoms below, I thought about all of us.
These may be familiar to you already, but I readily knew only 3 of the 6.
So I include them bc I want us all to be ready, since time is critical when symptoms occur.

The acronym = BE FAST

Balance – Is there a sudden loss of balance or coordination?

Eyes – Is there sudden blurred or double vision or sudden, persistent vision trouble?

Face – Ask the person to smile. Is one or both sides of the face drooping?

Arms – Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one side drift downward? Is there weakness or numbness on one side?

Speech – Does the person have slurred or garbled speech? Can he/she repeat simple phrases?

Time – Call 911 for immediate medical attention if you notice one or more of these signs. Also, take note of when symptoms began.

“May you be well in body and mind.“ ️                -Kate H.

February 14, 2020 - Questions inspired by a National Geographic issue on Women

Five were present for our Valentine's Day meeting: Kate H., Angela, Revin, Nona, and I.

We had brief updates from Nona regarding her decisions about her aunt. Verna will be coming to live with Nona and Kim in the next few weeks. We'll get to exercise our Holding Space talents for them over time, whether they need our physical presence or not.  And we acknowledged that we are building this group with these issues of aging and support as paramount.

We continue to acknowledge the losses currently impacting us. Our former member, NH, has lost 2 dogs in the last 3 weeks,
and Angela and Revin are still feeling Rose's absence, naturally.
We are all animal lovers of one stripe or another; we know that the deaths of our fur-friends are not just simple events, but ongoing holes in our hearts.

In the last 'business' point, I asked for volunteers to host the next meeting since I will be in Texas for the closing of the sale of my family farm. It will be good to be done with that aspect of my life; I'm very grateful that we have not been raising animals! Angela and Revin stepped up to volunteer, so
The February 28th meeting of our Salon will be at their home in Upper Canyon. Details will follow.


Kate facilitated a rich discussion today inviting us to consider how we have claimed, or are claiming, our identities and empowerment as women, and using the questions below:

What is your greatest strength?

What is the greatest hurdle you’ve overcome in claiming your power/equality/
independence as a female?

What was your breakthrough moment?

What is the greatest challenge women face today?

What needs to change in the next ten years?

What advice would you give a young woman today?

The discussion was fun and interesting. Many good points were mentioned.
It was nice to acknowledge our strength, wisdom, and power as Women and as Elders.

Why it’s So Tempting to Build Walls and Shut People Out (and what to do instead)

The article linked here adds to our conversation regarding 'to add or not to add' a new member or two and comes from TED.com

The intro begins like this:

"Why do humans often want to create a world of “us” vs. “them”? And what can we do about this unhelpful, often damaging, yet somehow reassuring instinct? Psychiatrist Robert Waldinger has some useful advice."

The article seems important to me because I still want to increase our membership just a little, and because, as many of you, I'm really concerned about how polarized we in America - and the world - have become.
This article, along with others that address how we are so often committed to those friends, news agents, mentors, preachers, etc., who support and report on issues from our own points of view, rather than diligently seeking out broader perspectives. 

The 'what to do instead' parts of the article are informative and creative. I'd like to see us consider them one day.
Meanwhile, an enriching topic for discussion might be 'Our Biases, and How We Came to Them'. and perhaps, 'How do They Serve Us Now'.

Meanwhile, I found these two definitions from Merriam Webster relevant and clarifying.

Bias

a : an inclination of temperament or outlook especially : a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment : prejudice
b : an instance of such prejudice
c : bent, tendency
d  (1) : deviation of the expected value of a statistical estimate from the quantity it estimates
    (2) : systematic error introduced into sampling or testing by selecting or encouraging one outcome or answer over others

Prejudice

1 : injury or damage resulting from some judgment or action of another in disregard of one's rights especially
   : detriment to one's legal rights or claims

2 a (1) : preconceived judgment or opinion

      (2) : an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge

   b : an instance of such judgment or opinion

   c : an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics

 

(I'll also link the article in our List of Links and the topic in our list of same.)