Desert Magnolia

Saturday morning, around 5:30 a.m., my daughter, my husband, my car, two suitcases full of 'have to' clothes, and sundry appliances that our college Senior wanted/needed for her apartment drove off into the sunrise. As the taillights winked out in the distance, I felt that tightness in my chest, the oh so familiar searing pain caused by the departure of one of my offspring, and a heaviness that persisted in spite of multiple yoga sessions, miles on the trail, and meditation by the fountain out back over the course of the weekend. But this time the searing pain didn't turn into the fetal position crying jag that it has in the past, a jag that paralyzes me for an hour or so, then subdues me for the remainder of the day,  and reminds me of how absolutely powerful the bonds of motherhood are, and how blessed I am to feel these ties with my progeny. Either I am growing used to these separations, or the other shoe hasn't dropped yet due to the noise of studying for midte

As you all know, I am pursuing Oriental Medicine. It's quite a journey, and one that I've decided to chronicle on a dedicated blog. Those of you who read Desert Magnolia, please keep on doing so. If you're interested in learning more about the whole becoming a practitioner of Oriental Medicine, the ups, the downs, the intricacies, etc., please visit Lotus Elementals.blogspot.com. My first post: Future Dawning Thanks so much! Stevie

Timeline 5:30 a.m. Saturday. Destination: Southwest Acupuncture College, Santa Fe, NM Objective: NCAOM Clean Needle Techniques Exam (First national level exam in the program, and required to treat in clinic, sit for national boards, sit for state boards. A MUST pass, IOW.) Climate: Stressful, with more than a little self doubt and what the hell thrown in for good measure Outcome: Pass . Timeline: 2:45 p.m. Saturday Destination: Home Objective: Nap Climate: Exhausted but exhultant Outcome: 2.5 hour snooze that made me feel almost human again.

For me, suddenly not doing something I've been doing religiously can be the best way to appreciate how well that thing I had been doing, but am currently not doing for whatever reason, has been working. Case in point? The Primal/Paleo diet. In recent weeks I've been busy, stressed, lazy, hungry, cranky, stressed, and feeling like I'm barely hanging on by a thread most days. I've begun to look at that trend of mostly negative stuff to identify factors I can control, because seriously, who wants to be a cranky butt so much of the time? In all fairness to my life, I have complicated it beyond reason, so any deviation from a solid routine can throw things off in a hurry. Lately, there have been several things that have qualified - daughter's surgery; hubby's backpacking trip; school deadlines; and natural hormone fluctuation that has begun to intensify, and which may require much more focus to manage in the months to come. So the stuff that has arrived, unp

There comes a time in a student's life when they become an intern. A for real, going to be hands on with patients every day kind of intern. I become one of those in the Fall. And I have to say, I'm feeling mixed emotions. On one hand I cannot wait to apply what I'm learning to address patient needs. On the other I'm wondering how on earth I could possibly be ready for such tasks. On another I'm thinking that between this term and next, not only will I be taking a 'break clinic', where I'll be treating every day for a solid week under a supervisor, I'll be reviewing all of my diagnosis texts that accompanied a very cool but very academic class that I took last summer, the majority of which had no context because I'd not taken the other foundational classes to make it make sense. If that makes sense... Anyway, I'm excited but nervous but realize that this moment, when academia becomes practical medicine, represents the biggest, brigh