Kate Loving Shenk

Old Style Pedometer

I love my pedometer!

America On The Move has come to the hospital where I work, and all my friends
as well as myself are getting free tiny pedometers that attach to our waist bands
and measures every step we take.

Over the years, I’ve entered similar programs. One pedometer fell off in my pasture
land, only to show up a year later, rusted and disabled.

I remember getting another pedometer that measured ten steps for  every one.

After that I just let go of the idea of ever having one again.

This pedometer is perfect! It does the job it was designed to do which is to count my
steps, one stride at a time.

Since my choice and goal is to walk the Pacific Crest Trail, which surprisingly is only 10,000
steps a day from 11/16 to 12/28, I need to hustle to get those steps in, nevertheless.

10,000 steps measures five miles.

My dogs and I walk 2-4 miles a day. I often take 7,000 steps at work, and lately at home,
as well.

If I have to go to the other end of the hospital or my home to complete a task, I do so
happily now, knowing that my steps are getting me closer to my goal.

What is my goal?

Besides completing the Pacific Trail hike, getting my free pedometer, and rumors have it,
getting a $30.00 bonus, I like the idea of moving my body actively, getting up and moving,
stepping and dancing my way through the day.

So do all my friends who have a pedometer. This is where the fun begins.

I was talking to a fellow pedometer owner last night, and we spontaneously broke into steps,
dancing to a tune that was transmitted through the hospital sound system.

Another of my fellow pedometer owners is a stalwart Republican. I admittedly represent the
other side of the spectrum, politically speaking.

It would seem that I have nothing in common with this woman, and the 2008 election certainly
accentuated our opposing viewpoints.

Then we both became obsessed with our pedometers. We chose the same trail. When she
told me she slept with her pedometer, so that when she gets up in the middle of the night to
go to the bathroom and those steps are measured, too, I loved the zaniness of that confession!

So now we have something we can talk about without feeling the need to wring each others neck!

The pedometer creates common ground between people who ordinarily would have nothing
to do with each other!

It all began when I took my dogs to the Vet and asked the receptionist if my dog Ulysses was over
weight.

She instructed me to look straight down upon his standing body and if I saw obvious bulges,
then I would have to take him on more walks.

So I looked down at him, and saw a protruding bulge on both sides of his body. I knew then that I would
be taking Ule and my other dog Mukunda on daily disciplined walks.

About one week into our new routine, a four mile walk along the Mill Stream in what is called the
(Lancaster) County Park, I heard about the pedometer and thought that recording steps would
add a little excitement to what I had vowed to do for my dogs, and also for myself.

Five days of walking melted those bulges off both dogs.

My bulges vanish ever so slightly every day.

I notice we all sleep better; Mukunda in particular loves his food more than he ever did
(if that is possible)!!

I take deeper and more conscious breaths.

Ulysses snores more contentedly when he sleeps.

Muki used to jump in and out of the bed all night long but now he stays in one place for
hours, as we all snuggle together on these wonderful long winter’s nights, as the days
grow shorter and the nights grow longer.

And we vow to reject a sedentary life this year, one day at a time.

The pedometer serves as a motivation tool to keep moving throughout the day and night.
The America On The Move web site allows me to log the number of steps I take every day,
then shows where I am along the Pacific Crest Trail. Right now, I’m hanging out at Death Valley.
Soon I will arrive at Crater Lake. By December 28th, I should have completed the hike.

The trail map is a fun way for my imagination to play, but the exercise and activity that my
pedometer inspires is creating a daily walking and running habit, connecting me to people
and giving all of us a lifestyle we want to maintain.

Research shows that pedometer accuracy can vary widely, depending on the make and
model.

I am happy to report that the America On The Move pedometer ranks #2 as one of the best
pedometers on the market.

I can hardly wait to tell all my friends!!

Kate Loving Shenk

-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Kate Loving Shenk is a writer, healer, musician and the creator
of the e-book called “Transform Your Nursing Career and Discover
Your Calling and Destiny.” The book is designed to stimulate
nurses to love their work and to prevent on-the-job-burnout.
Click here to find out how to order the e-book:
http://www.katelovingshenk.com/blog
http://www.katelovingshenk.com/nursingcareertransformation
Check out Kate’s Blog: http://nursehealers.typepad.com
And the Lens: http://www.squidoo.com/katelovingshenk
http://www.squidoo.com/thinkriches
http://doganddolphin.ning.com
http://nursehealers.typepad.com/dog_lovers_unite
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Kate Loving Shenk Nursing Career Transformation Sign Up HERE For Your *FREE* Newsletter For Nurses And Healers Your e-mail address is safe with me–see privacy notice on my website!http://www.katelovingshenk.com/nursingcareertransformation/simplenewslettersignup.html

Dr Jill And her Beloved Mother, G.G.

After reading “My Stroke of Insight,” by Jane Bolte Taylor, Ph.D., and watching Oprah interview Jane on the Oprah Soul Series, I began to think of my mother’s stroke on June 19, 1987.

I just completed an intense dyadic four month period completing phase one of my Nurse Practitioner training.

Now phase two would begin in a week, and I was relaxing with my parents after not having a chance to visit with them for several months.

Something was wrong with my mother. All she would say was, ” I am not feeling very well,” and she looked quite serious, unsmiling and preoccupied.

My dad almost died from pneumonia  about a month before, so he was in a great mood, still gaining back his strength and grateful about Life and a renewed sense of gratitude regarding the fact that he was still alive.

The near death of my dad was stressful for my mom. My parents were married almost
fifty years, and they loved one another. They were involved in the same activities over the years
such as the Civil Rights Movement, Anti-Vietnam War activities, environmental issues,
First Amendment preservation, as well as a deep interest in metaphysical pursuits.

My mom loved the study of Astrology as well as all things psychic and enjoyed an intellectual
curiosity about life. She was a free thinker, dissected ideas, and had a library of the Classics, lining the entire wall of her living room, more than 1,000 in number.

Over the next few days, my mom took to her bed and seemed to lose her ability to articulate words.

What she did instead was laugh at everything like she was having a great joke with herself. No matter
what my dad or I said, she laughed hysterically.

Dad and I got into the spirit of her mood. When she laughed, we laughed with her, and I marveled at her strange transformation, although over the years,  when ever my mom thought something was funny, or crazy such as, say, the election of Ronald Reagon, she laughed in this exact way.

When she said to me, “Oh, Kate, do you think I am trying to die??” and laughed for 10 minutes more, I called the doctor.

She was having a stroke. During the CT scan of the brain, the professionals gave her too much anesthesia, and she went into a coma, never to return.

Although when the doctors at the teaching hospital kept asking her questions during the neurological exam, I noticed she refused to cooperate because when the people she loved showed up, she responded silently, wordlessly and lovingly.

Mom always called Ronald Reagon “that fertilizer head!!”

Once the doctors brought in a picture of Ronald Reagon and showed it to her.

“Who is this?” they asked.

“Shit head,” she responded.

I surmised my dear mom did not want to be patronized, by anyone.

And that she wanted to die in peace.

Jane Bolte Taylor describes her stroke as feeling at one with the universe, as her body having no boundaries, and feeling as if she had reached the state of nirvana, heaven on earth, great peace and happiness.

When mom laughed and laughed, as her stroke was taking hold of her brain, I could tell she, too, was at peace and had obtained a childlike state to her consciousness.

I am happy to say that I was able to meet her there, to be with her, to allow her to be who she wanted to be,and who she was becoming.This served me well as I learned to meet my patients exactly where they are, without judgment.

As I read and listened to Jane Bolte Taylor tell of her spiritual experience during her stroke experience, I realized without doubt, that my mom was having a spiritual experience. She gave my dad and I a contact high.

She was ecstatic and so were we.

She connected us to our right brain, expansive and transcendent selves.

I remember coming back to my left brain with great effort when I realized it was my responsibility to get her help even though we were having the time of our lives.

Yet putting her in the hands of the doctors didn’t save her life. But it did give all of us who loved her a chance to say our goodbyes.

For now.

Kate Loving Shenk

-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Kate Loving Shenk is a writer, healer, musician and the creator
of the e-book called “Transform Your Nursing Career and Discover
Your Calling and Destiny.” The book is designed to stimulate
nurses to love their work and to prevent on-the-job-burnout.
Click here to find out how to order the e-book:
http://www.katelovingshenk.com/blog
http://www.katelovingshenk.com/nursingcareertransformation
Check out Kate’s Blog: http://nursehealers.typepad.com
And the Lens: http://www.squidoo.com/katelovingshenk
http://www.squidoo.com/thinkriches
http://doganddolphin.ning.com
http://nursehealers.typepad.com/dog_lovers_unite
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Kate Loving Shenk Nursing Career Transformation Sign Up HERE For Your *FREE* Newsletter For Nurses And Healers Your e-mail address is safe with me–see privacy notice on my website!http://www.katelovingshenk.com/nursingcareertransformation/simplenewslettersignup.html

Today is October 28th, 2008, and I am Kate Loving Shenk.

I am going to start something new called “The Commentaries of Kate Loving Shenk.”

These talks will run the gamut of what I am interested in and inspired by, more than likely, topics like, Single Payer or Guaranteed Health Care For All, as well as Nursing Rn and CRNP issues, Nurse Healers, healing and health.

Today’s commentary is dedicated to a nursing colleague of mine, whom I have worked with for five years and who is now on the brink of retirement after 30 some years as a dedicated nurse.

I will call her Nurse Cyprus for the sake of anonymity.

Nurse Cyprus confided to me on our recent night shift duty that she knows she will struggle with health insurance issues because of the health care crisis and economic crisis our country and world face at this time.

Yet she would still like to retire.

Nurse Cyprus, Pennsylvania has 2 bills that are pending and that would relieve your fears if they are passed.

A grassroots core of people, including myself, are dedicated to getting these bills passed: HB 1660 and SB 300, both single payer universal health care bills that will ensure coverage for all Pennsylvanians.

This is a publicly funded, (by the Government) and privately delivered (by doctors, Nurse Practitioners, Nurse Mid-wives, Physician Assistants) who would be back in the business of delivering quality health care to YOU!!

How is this paid for? by a 3% payroll (and 10% employer tax) across the board. These bills will save Pennsylvania millions and millions of dollars and will give YOU peace of mind.

More will be revealed in future commentaries.

For now, good night.

Kate Loving Shenk

-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Kate Loving Shenk is a writer, healer, musician and the creator
of the e-book called “Transform Your Nursing Career and Discover
Your Calling and Destiny.” The book is designed to stimulate
nurses to love their work and to prevent on-the-job-burnout.
Click here to find out how to order the e-book:
http://www.katelovingshenk.com/blog
http://www.katelovingshenk.com/nursingcareertransformation
Check out Kate’s Blog: http://nursehealers.typepad.com
And the Lens: http://www.squidoo.com/katelovingshenk
http://www.squidoo.com/thinkriches
http://doganddolphin.ning.com
http://nursehealers.typepad.com/dog_lovers_unite
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Kate Loving Shenk Nursing Career Transformation Sign Up HERE For Your *FREE* Newsletter For Nurses And Healers Your e-mail address is safe with me–see privacy notice on my website!http://www.katelovingshenk.com/nursingcareertransformation/simplenewslettersignup.html

I had so much fun writing the latest article which I also placed over on Nurse Healers.

First of all, I like the idea of improving the quality of my life. This is not a once and done
phenomenon, however, but a moment to moment committment.

We are an amazing species, you and I and every other living and breathing energy system!!

I am so excited!!

Read this!!

http://nursehealers.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/09/my-friend-cliff-saw-eckhart-tolle-on-the-oprah-winfrey-showbought-a-new-earth-written-by-tolle-and-read-every-word–abo.html

-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Kate Loving Shenk is a writer, healer, musician and the creator
of the e-book called “Transform Your Nursing Career and Discover
Your Calling and Destiny.” The book is designed to stimulate
nurses to love their work and to prevent on-the-job-burnout.
Click here to find out how to order the e-book:
http://www.nursingcareertransformation.com
http://www.katelovingshenk.com/blog
Check out Kate’s Blog: http://nursehealers.typepad.com
And the Lens: http://www.squidoo.com/katelovingshenk
http://www.squidoo.com/thinkriches
http://doganddolphin.ning.com
http://nursehealers.typepad.com/dog_lovers_unite
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about Healing!!

My friend and fellow Abundant Babe Master Mind Partner, Joan Adams, told us all about Mind Movies this week.

Here is what she wrote:

“Just saw this interview of a guy from Australia that
could change the way you manifest anything you want
into your life. You really do have to see this:

http://www.MindMovies.com/ vid1/?10754

You see, he figured out this powerful way to tap into the
Law of Attraction that practically guarantees
you’ll get whatever you want.

And the surprising thing about it is it is SUPER easy to do,
you can start doing it right now…and here’s the really cool
part…

*****************************
He’s GIVING it away! ForFREE
*****************************

He obviously understands abundance, because he’s
practicing it in a very big way here:

http://www.MindMovies.com/ vid1/?10754

So what is it about Aussies anyway? They seem to totally
have this figured out, especially when you consider that
the land down under is where we got…

***********************
The Secret
***********************

I’m sure you’ll agree that was life changing all by itself.

And now, this guy has added another dimension to the
Law of Attraction that ramps up how fast you can manifest
anything you want into your life.

******************************

http://nursehealers.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/09/ive-never-felt-better-in-my-life.html

Love to All!!

-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Kate Loving Shenk is a writer, healer, musician and the creator
of the e-book called “Transform Your Nursing Career and Discover
Your Calling and Destiny.” The book is designed to stimulate
nurses to love their work and to prevent on-the-job-burnout.
Click here to find out how to order the e-book:
http://www.nursingcareertransformation.com
http://www.katelovingshenk.com/blog
Check out Kate’s Blog: http://nursehealers.typepad.com
And the Lens: http://www.squidoo.com/katelovingshenk
http://www.squidoo.com/thinkriches
http://doganddolphin.ning.com
http://nursehealers.typepad.com/dog_lovers_unite
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Sign Up For My **Free** Bi-weekly Newsletter
about Healing!!

I found this great video about how to do the gratitude dance
and I want to share it with you!!

http://nursehealers.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/09/object-width425-height344param-namemovie-valuehttpwwwyoutubecomv1nemc1fl3j0hlenfs1paramparam-nameallowfullscre.html

-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Kate Loving Shenk is a writer, healer, musician and the creator
of the e-book called “Transform Your Nursing Career and Discover
Your Calling and Destiny.” The book is designed to stimulate
nurses to love their work and to prevent on-the-job-burnout.
Click here to find out how to order the e-book:
http://www.nursingcareertransformation.com
http://www.katelovingshenk.com/blog
Check out Kate’s Blog: http://nursehealers.typepad.com
And the Lens: http://www.squidoo.com/katelovingshenk
http://www.squidoo.com/thinkriches
http://doganddolphin.ning.com
http://nursehealers.typepad.com/dog_lovers_unite
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Sign Up For My **Free** Bi-weekly Newsletter
about Healing!!

I wrote a notification to my email list and referenced The Consciousness Scale,
and thought if anyone coming here to look at the site was interested in reading the article,
then I could give the link here for your in-Joyment!!

http://www.submityourarticle.com/articles/Kate%20Loving-Shenk-1513/truth-10930.php

Please feel free to share this site with anyone you feel would love it!!

-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Kate Loving Shenk is a writer, healer, musician and the creator
of the e-book called “Transform Your Nursing Career and Discover
Your Calling and Destiny.” The book is designed to stimulate
nurses to love their work and to prevent on-the-job-burnout.
Click here to find out how to order the e-book:
http://www.nursingcareertransformation.com
http://www.katelovingshenk.com/blog
Check out Kate’s Blog: http://nursehealers.typepad.com
And the Lens: http://www.squidoo.com/katelovingshenk
http://www.squidoo.com/thinkriches
http://doganddolphin.ning.com
http://nursehealers.typepad.com/dog_lovers_unite
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Sign Up For My **Free** Bi-weekly Newsletter
about Healing!!

Today is a gorgeous day here on the eastern seaboard, with blue, blue sky.

We are all inwardly praying that Gustav doesn’t pack the punch weather
people are predicting this storm to be.

Many are also celebrating Labor Day here in the States!! Happy Happy to all!!

I’m in the process of contemplating my next article about Robert D. Lesslie’s book:
“Angels In The ER.”

I never watch shows or read books about hospitals, doctors or nurses, but I do
read books about angels.

Perhaps Dr Lesslie is an angel himself.

I doubt he’d ever admit this to anyone, or that the thought ever entered his mind.

But I will tell the world: Dr Lesslie!! You are an angel!!

More to follow!!

-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Kate Loving Shenk is a writer, healer, musician and the creator
of the e-book called “Transform Your Nursing Career and Discover
Your Calling and Destiny.” The book is designed to stimulate
nurses to love their work and to prevent on-the-job-burnout.
Click here to find out how to order the e-book:
http://www.nursingcareertransformation.com
http://www.katelovingshenk.com/blog
Check out Kate’s Blog: http://nursehealers.typepad.com
And the Lens: http://www.squidoo.com/katelovingshenk
http://www.squidoo.com/thinkriches
http://doganddolphin.ning.com
http://nursehealers.typepad.com/dog_lovers_unite
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What’s it like to write article number 100?

I love the feeling of accomplishment derived from this, but
can’t say whether article number 150, 200 or 500 will be any
more of a great milestone, in the mind.

Every article written is like an ode to life or living.

Every article written provides me the opportunity to contemplate
and think about the thoughts just forwarded to The Cosmos.

Hit send and you are practicing surrender because now your writing
is no longer under your control.

And what is surrender but the practice of letting go of the need
to control, demand or have anything more to do with perfection?

I had a patient recently who prided herself with the fact that she was a
worrier, that she had anxiety about every facet of her life, and that this
made her somehow special.

But by accepting her exactly where she was, I did not have any interest
in changing how she viewed the world.

I did not have to be right nor was it necessary to create a drama proving
she was wrong.

Her unhappiness is her’s to own.

So the 100th article is my practice of letting go of the need to be right,
or of the need to think that these articles somehow make me a “good person.”

They are testaments to life and to living.

And that is all.

-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Kate Loving Shenk is a writer, healer, musician and the creator
of the e-book called “Transform Your Nursing Career and Discover
Your Calling and Destiny.” The book is designed to stimulate
nurses to love their work and to prevent on-the-job-burnout.
Click here to find out how to order the e-book:
http://www.nursingcareertransformation.com
http://www.katelovingshenk.com/blog
Check out Kate’s Blog: http://nursehealers.typepad.com
And the Lens: http://www.squidoo.com/katelovingshenk
http://www.squidoo.com/thinkriches
http://doganddolphin.ning.com
http://nursehealers.typepad.com/dog_lovers_unite
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Sign Up For My **Free** Bi-weekly Newsletter
about Healing!!

Friend Bull Frog has come to live with us in the basement.

This is the height of cricket season, and crickets live in
abundance here on Blue Heron Farm.

Bull Froggy loves crickets.

S/he lives under an under water rock.

When we plop the cricket into the water, Bull Froggy, with the
speed that the eye can see only briefly, zips and splashes and
the cricket is gone.

What a show!

The dogs are first to line up for this natural entertainment and wonder.

Froggy seems to in-joy being the center of such gleeful delight!

This reminds me of the Sawet Owl we rescued after she crashed into our
windshield, crossing the Gettysburg Battle Field.

Tom’s Aunt Hilda was dying and we were traveling to her to offer our
support.

We later found out that the Sawet migratory pattern centers right there
and was in place long before the Battle itself.

We took her home and nursed her back to good health, and she lived in the barn
that entire winter.

Her food consisted of a mouse or two each day. We’d carefully place the
rodent into a coat pocket before walking quietly into her territory.

She was waiting for us.

Like the speed of bewitching magic, she’d swoop and take that mouse
out of pocket and return to her perch on a high barn beam, bowing
each time with wide alert eyes.

A thank you.

A message of gratitude.

The day Tom’s Aunt Hilda passed, our Sawet buried herself alive
in the corner of the barn.

Sawet was a messenger of the after-life worlds, calling to all of us
if we listen.

Bull Froggy reminds me of the owl, of the dogs, of the river where she will
ultimately make her way back, to the depths of worlds made more mysterious
by the unseen depths of moving water.

-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Kate Loving Shenk is a writer, healer, musician and the creator
of the e-book called “Transform Your Nursing Career and Discover
Your Calling and Destiny.” The book is designed to stimulate
nurses to love their work and to prevent on-the-job-burnout.
Click here to find out how to order the e-book:
http://www.nursingcareertransformation.com
http://www.katelovingshenk.com/blog
Check out Kate’s Blog: http://nursehealers.typepad.com
And the Lens: http://www.squidoo.com/katelovingshenk
http://www.squidoo.com/thinkriches
http://doganddolphin.ning.com
http://nursehealers.typepad.com/dog_lovers_unite
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Sign Up For My **Free** Bi-weekly Newsletter
about Healing!!