What gives under pressure?

As my countdown to Chiapas continues, and my days and hours are filled with a mammoth translation marathon in preparation, I am noticing what is happening to my choices around time as my stress level increases.

Some days, time lies before me in an open expanse, inviting a feeling of spaciousness as I approach the day and my intentions for it. Saturdays and Sundays, and occasionally a week day, are like that.

Not this week. My dear friend and proofreading colleague Carolina, who is impatiently standing by on east coast time to proofread my translations like a horse chomping at the bit, jokingly suggests that next time they are visiting, her R.N. practitioner husband teach my hubby how to put in an IV so I don't have to eat and can keep working without leaving my desk.

Well that is not happening, but I am blessed to have a sweet gallant hubby who steps up to the plate and into the kitchen. Healthy home cooked meals around the table with family, non negotiable. Meditation, also a no brainier, forgive the pun. The more stress I am under, the more I need it. Less sleep, well, yesterday I would have said, no way. Today, as I lay wide awake and wired at 5 a.m. and surrendered to getting up, some of that went by the wayside too.

My daily hike in the outdoors, ah, sadly, that is not happening this week.

Sometimes during marathon focus periods, when life is such that whatever the task before us can't be eliminated, delegated, or postponed, because it is in fact the right thing to be doing, something has to give, for now.

Unfortunately, it is usually our self care that goes out the window, just when we actually need it the most.

So, it's helpful to pay attention, to stop and notice what gives under pressure ~ then we can sit a moment, think through our day, tune into our body/mind/heart/soul and then decide what to let go of, where to hunker down.

This too, shall pass, I remind myself as I take lots of deep breaths. And it’s all for a fabulous cause!

What about you, oh dear busy bee, what gives under pressure when you are under the gun?

             

Countdown to Chiapas!

Aerial view of San Cristobal church

A week from today, I board my first flight from our very own little Santa Rosa airport to LAX, where I will meet up with my fellow interpreter and dear friend Katharine Allen and the rest of the Mammoth Medical Missions team. Next day we board our flight to Mexico City, followed by another flight to Tuxtla, a drive to San Cristobal Las Casas and one more drive to our final destination, the highland village of San Andrés Larráinzar. In case you are wondering what this is all about, check out my post here.

It’s Saturday – my very favorite day of the week and I’m gathering my camping gear, making my lists, and checking them twice. So much fun!!

I’m also madly translating the handouts and Power Point presentations for the teaching week, and brushing up on my emergency room, physical therapy and obstetrical terminology. Talk about a crash course!

I am so grateful to all my friends and family around the world who have made it possible for me to join this event through their generous donations.  I am also so grateful to all the wonderful folks I have yet to meet, who have converged in their intention to bring some healing and training assistance to this village.

It’s amazing what goes into a medical mission. The hours and hours of planning. Fund raising. Sterilizing and packing medical equipment. Gathering supplies. Coordinating. Communicating. And countless other behind the scenes activities, all to make it possible.

It’s a global network of caring hearts, who are giving of their time, energy, money, resources, know-how and expertise to make it happen.

This particular configuration of Western medical providers, interpreters and support staff are about to converge and meet with a whole other world: the indigenous villagers of San Andrés Larráinzar, the local medical staff, the traditional birth attendants and local support staff.

It is always an unknown when such divergent world views come together…

Who knows what challenges we will face, what cultural bumps will present themselves?  And who knows what magic we will create together? 

Who knows what the power of such shared intentions can bring about – besides the obvious benefits of the no-cost elective surgeries, and the intensive skills training in maternal health, rural ER skills and physical therapy for local medical providers?

I can’t wait to find out!

Sunday reflections - Change is afoot

Although change is an inescapable part of life, we all seem to meet it with varying degrees of resistance. Especially if things change in ways we don’t expect them to, or want them to.

This was very evident during the 2 day- conference I just returned from, celebrating CHIA (California Health Care Interpreters Association) Annual Conference.  Having been in the field for almost 30 years now, I still recall the early days of my career as a translator, with a manual typewriter and white out.  Google? Forget it!

As with almost any industry these, days, the exponential growth of technology is having a huge impact on our field. Machine translation, over the phone interpreting, video remote interpreting, are just a few of the developments we have seen in recent times. And more, of course, is on the way.

Now, there are many legitimate concerns with the adoption and use of this technology.  There is much to be done to educate the developers and users of this technology, so that they actually enhance the availability and quality of language services for limited English speakers, and provide a meaningful, well compensated and healthy work environment for the interpreters who will always be indispensable in this nuanced enterprise of cross linguistic and cross cultural communication.

What I most came away with though, is our fundamental relationship to change. Is it one of fear? Or one of opportunity?

“The only way that we can live, is if we grow. The only way that we can grow is if we change. The only way that we can change is if we learn. The only way we can learn is if we are exposed. And the only way that we can become exposed is if we throw ourselves out into the open. Do it. Throw yourself.”

― C. JoyBell C.

So next time you are faced with changing circumstances, dear reader, what is your choice? I, for one, intend on throwing myself out into the open. Join me?