greetings to my cyber-siblings

i apologise in advance for the length of this
i just couldn't help it!

i got into a mull yesterday and last night
in response to several recent messages
both public and personal

so this is a 'melded' response to all
and maybe a little background for our many new members
who might be wondering why the heck i'm posting all the time

there has been some discussion recently on causes of pd
including a lot of interest and response
about head traumas as well as stress

one of you wrote:
>...extreme stress....can "take you over the top" and cause
>...any underlying pathology to show its ugly head....

i can relate this to a neuro describing my 'epileptic' tendency
[which only shows up as a 'faint'
when i get an injection or other medical 'assault']
as my simply having a 'lower' threshold than the norm...?

our emotions are a strong,
maybe the strongest component,
of what differentiates humans from other animals

our bio/body/bags [!] comprise a blend of varying levels of chemicals
and chemical producing bio-factories
that act individually
or in tandem
in reaction to our experiences and/or
our emotional responses to those experiences

a classic situation:
i can be 'run-down' and ripe for catching a cold or flu etc
but if i'm 'hyped-up' about a deadline or an exciting project
my adrenaline level [or whatever] can keep the threatening virus at bay
but
as soon as the pressure is off
and i get a chance to relax
the virus jumps in

in his book 'the road less traveled'
scott peck originally stated "life is difficult"
he later adjusted it to "life is complex"

e.g. number one
in my research/digging/archyology on menopause and female hormone changes
i thought i'd be looking at maybe two hormones
but noooo!
there are at least five
and they all change levels throughout the menstrual cycle
in response to cues from various glands and in response to each other
not very easy to analyze
and not very easy to attribute specific causes and effects

e.g. number two
my first introduction to 'real' curry was a mind opener
the recipe called for 12 different spices
as i opened each one i wallowed in its unique aroma
and then tossed it in a pan with a little oil to saute
as the heat penetrated, the aroma changed and developed
as i added each subsequent spice to the growing mixture
the aroma changed and grew amazingly
the whole became much more than
the individual parts

> ...is convinced the stress in 1995... CAUSED her pd...
>... desperately trying to figure out what caused their MS....
>... if it could have been prevented or if they had done something wrong...
>... believes it was triggered by a traumatic incident...
>... who...hasn't experienced trauma, injury, great emotional loss...

if our curiosity about the cause of our [apparent] afflictions
whatever they are
leads only to 'why me?' and 'where can i blame this?'
then we are stagnating

if our curiosity about the cause of our [apparent] afflictions
whatever they are
leads to learning and understanding and knowledge
even if unrelated or 'accidental' or 'serendipitous'
then we are growing

i am convinced that everything happens to us for a reason
that we are here to work at learning and growing
not 'just to have [transient] fun'
or [transient] happiness

the tricky and grace-filled part here
is that if we follow our passions, our instincts,
and discover where our intended work is
it can full-fill us with joy

this is all related to my immediate personal situation
[moving back to canada after moving to bermuda
from toronto 16 years ago]:

i, who have never even met another parkie yet,
have been invited to the ottawa parkie group christmas party [!]
if they are ready for it
i am!

as a result i started mulling about
what it would have been like to have always lived in canada
and always had the [easy] access to medical care, support groups etc

i've been thinking
i could easily have been a whiner
and could have taken it all for granted

since the traumas to which i attribute my pd
occurred in the first few months here
i have started to think
if i hadn't come to bermuda i might not have gotten pd
[so that's where the blame lies!]
but
if i hadn't gotten pd in bermuda with its isle-olation
i would not have learned how important 'family' is
on all sorts of levels
and then
i wouldn't be here now
following this new found passion of mine
writing about sharing and learning with all of you

this is all just hypothetical of course
'if' and 'could have' and 'would have'
have no bearing on real time

which brings me to the thanks i've received from so many of you
for my contributions to the list

my semi-officially unemployed state over the past few months
has given me the time for indulging my love of writing
and thus
giving voice to my 'news-hound' instinct
in digging out real medical news and developments of interest
and
giving voice to my 'all the facts and data in one pot' instinct
in contributing to our ever growing permanent archives
of every message ever posted to the list
and
giving voice to my new found 'empathic' [?] instinct
in sharing my own experiences in the hope
that they might benefit others
and
giving voice to the feisty/spunky one inside me
who cannot abide mis-information and lazy ignorance
when it comes to understanding and coping with our 'affliction'

after i make the move to canada before the end of this month
my writing time might be more limited
but i wouldn't count on it!

i take great pleasure and satisfaction in doing what i'm doing
and if it's of any benefit to anyone else
i'm doubly blessed

there!
i just had to get all that off my chest!
now back to packing...


your cyber-sis all mulled out

janet

janet [log in to unmask]