Journal of Sacred Work

Caregivers have superpowers! Radical Loving Care illuminates the divine truth that caregiving is not just a job. It is Sacred Work.

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Former President & CEO of multiple hospital systems and founding president & CEO of 20-hospital OhioHealth, best selling author, film artist, ordained minister, composer, published poet, syndicated T.V. host, trial attorney, federal prosecutor and Municipal Court Judge. Erie is internationally known as the founder of the Radical Loving Care(R)movement. He also heads Erie Chapman Foundation, Dane Dakota Productions, LLC, and Chapman Health International, Inc.

Recent Posts

About

Former President & CEO of multiple hospital systems and founding president & CEO of 20-hospital OhioHealth, best selling author, film artist, ordained minister, composer, published poet, syndicated T.V. host, trial attorney, federal prosecutor and Municipal Court Judge. Erie is internationally known as the founder of the Radical Loving Care(R)movement. He also heads Erie Chapman Foundation, Dane Dakota Productions, LLC, and Chapman Health International, Inc.

Day 149 – Dream catching and healing

Dream_catching
I walked around as you do, investigating
the endless star,
and in my net, during the night, I woke up naked,
the only thing caught, a fish trapped inside the wind.
   -Pablo Neruda

   We cast our nets into the world and what do we catch? Perhaps pieces of ourselves. Perhaps, on some days, nothing but fish. Dreams may help us recover our souls. And help others recover theirs as well.
   Neruda talks of a "fish trapped inside the wind." So the net doesn’t catch the fish, the wind does. As we sleep, ephemeral images travel our consciousness. We dream whether we remember doing so or not. And what are your dreams as a caregiver?…

   Patients who have suffered trauma, either physical or emotional or both, may be plagued with frightening dreams. We need to hear them, not tell them "oh, that was just a bad dream." Adult nightmares cannot be dismissed so easily.
   It takes great courage to face the truth that dreams may bring. When we catch dragons in our dreams, they may haunt us in our waking hours as well. Caregivers who can meet the nightmares of patients with compassion are offering a healing gift.
   In offering this heartful healing, caregivers may themselves find solace. The life of the loving spirit is sure to encounter the horrible as well as the joyful. Every loving caregiver is open to the pain of others.
   When patients cast their nets into the half-light and catch pain, we may sit near them, give them love, and help them to find release and relief.
    How do your own dreams and nightmares inform your caregiving? What truths do they bring that we need to face with courage?

-Erie Chapman

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3 responses to “Day 149 – Dream catching and healing”

  1. Yvonne Ginez-Gonzales Avatar
    Yvonne Ginez-Gonzales

    About 5 years ago when I was working as a newly graduated RN Case Manager for Hospice, I had a 75 year old patient who was dying from Cancer. She was the first patient that I had that in some way had touched my heart in more ways than other patient that I had experienced in my years of nursing. She had such a beautiful spirit and heart and her family was just as loving and supportive of her wishes. When I received her as a patient she had a stage III pressure ulcer, which she had acquired in a SNF before the family had decided to bring her home to die. She had lost so much weight, there was pain to bottom during the dressing changes, and her nutritional intake was poor. Yet she continued to be courageous and positive about the path she had chosen to not seek aggressive treatment after diagnosis. Her family just seemed to understand, which made my visits much easier. However, we had our moments alone where I would do her assessment, dressing change and inquire with her about how she was feeling. It was often routine the questions and conversations that I would have with each patient, so that I could make sure that I was meeting her needs. It was during my last conversation with this beautiful woman that I remember because of the happenings over the following days after my visit. Before I left she had asked me, “Yvonne, why do you ask me the same questions every time you visit?” I took some time to sit and hold her hand and explain the purpose of asking those questions and when our conversation was done, she simply said, “Thank you for sharing that with me.” She then finished with a statement, “I am tired now.” She then closed her eyes, never knowing that we would not talk again. That night I went to sleep as always just thinking about my day and if I felt good about the services I had performed for the day and if there was anything I could have done different. I feel asleep comfortably believing I had done the best I could. However, that night I had a dream about my lady, maybe because my visit with her that day was just a little different from our other visits, I wasn’t sure. I believe I saw her sitting up in a chair and she took my hand and simple said, “You did good today.” Then I woke up to find myself in my bed. I believe she taught me a lesson that night that the most routine type of care I was giving as a nurse, was seen by her that I did good service. It was a spiritual reward that could never equal anything material. I thank her for that moment in my life. I will never forget her.

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  2. Deb Gerlica Avatar
    Deb Gerlica

    What beautiful passage to read at the end of my day.
    I try to listen to the messages in my dreams. Sometimes I choose not to remember or listen to a message that might be there.
    But, like you Yvonne,there is one dream so powerful, I will never forget it, The night my dad died I had a dream about him and he said to me, “Whenever you see a rainbow, think of me ” I do always.

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  3. ~liz Wessel Avatar
    ~liz Wessel

    These words Jean Vanier resonate for me, “There is an intimate link between the contemplative spirit and pain. We have a special mission. Our lives are not an escape from pain. It is not for us to run away from the pain of the world but somehow to hold onto it. It is important to hold in our prayer those who are stretched beyond their limits. The great secret is that in this world of pain and division, God comes and wants to reveal himself to us. He wants to say to us, ‘I wish to rest in you.’ This is a beautiful secret.”

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