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.

Days 79-83 – How To Be Content

Laundromat 3 - Cambridge 2016 -Erie Chapman 2a   In a brief video Liz Wessel offered in the weekend Journal Dr. James Finley asks "Why are we so content being un-contented?" We deny it then realize that he is right. 

   To the millions who covet predictability & order change is anathema. To others bored by the status quo change is essential. Neither group is content. 

   Traditionalists like predictability & order. Patterns & rules frustrate iconoclasts.

   The Journal's mantra is, Live love, not fear. Discontent with your work? Consider this challenge: Offer loving care to patients for your own benefit, not just for the patient. Caregivers tell me that when they do that they feel…more content. 

   Are we the hawk soaring through color or are we the "change" printed in this black & white laundromat?

   Love tells traditionalists that change is the wind of life not Discontent's fuel. The same love calls iconoclasts to celebrate passion's energy rather than to worry that it will never be enough.  

   The hawk fought his way to the right altitude before he could ride the breeze. He seems content with both parts of his journey. 

-Erie Chapman

Photographs by Erie

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6 responses to “Days 79-83 – How To Be Content”

  1. Terry Chapman Avatar
    Terry Chapman

    Wonderfully reflective piece!
    For me, as a conventional and yet adventurous person, the excerpt from the Ella Wilcox poem, below, captures how best to accept and deal with change in our lives; there will always be storms to contend with as we journey along, but if we persist in pursuing our deepest passion, regardless of obstacles, we will, as Thoreau said, “move toward our dreams”!
    “Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate, 
    As we voyage along through life; 
       ‘Tis the will of the soul 
       That decides its goal, 
    And not the calm or the strife.”

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  2. Chapman Health International Avatar
    Chapman Health International

    Thank you, Terry. Lovely to see this quote again and to experience this inspiration.

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  3. Julie Avatar
    Julie

    yes

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  4. ~liz Wessel Avatar
    ~liz Wessel

    Depending on the day I have a bit of both in me. I appreciate your
    challenge, Erie. I think whether or not we are in healthcare our encounters with one another have much to teach us. Recently, I noticed myself caving inward in a new circumstance and I immediately feel disdain towards myself, wishing I was different…but then a voice of compassion encouraged me to offer space for acceptance and I felt the constriction loosen its hold on me and I relaxed to enjoy a new experience. A simple shift in my thinking from fear to love.

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  5. ~liz Wessel Avatar
    ~liz Wessel

    P. S. As I continued to reflect this quote by Rumi came to mind, “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
    Perhaps, I took a left turn from the meaning of your eloquent reflection today but this is what surfaced for me. Thank you.

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  6. Todd Meador Avatar
    Todd Meador

    Love the image!
    Insert love and get change. Sometimes in unexpected ways.

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