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Theatre Arts, Prepaid Phones and All That Jazz!

July 31, 2009 - Posted by Ellie

Is Theater the Ultimate Brain Fitness Product?

In an earlier posting, Overwhelmed With Troubles?, I commented on the value of creative expression as an attitude stabilizer and resilience builder. And now my gut feel about the drawing lessons has been validated. A recent post on the blog Cognitive Daily cites a study that confirmed the efficacy of visual arts programs AND the even more impressive gains that the research subjects experienced when participating in a theatre arts program. Continue reading » Theatre Arts, Prepaid Phones and All That Jazz!

In the Rose Garden

June 30, 2009 - Posted by Ellie

White Rose Bud With apologies to the poetry aficionados frequenting the BouncebackCafe, I’m offering up an amateur knock-off on the Spoon River Anthology… one of my “what-the-hey” runs at an assignment from my creative writing class. This is my tongue-in-cheek spoof at my Convent School Education experience. All names have been changed to protect the guilty! And, yes, smoking is so NOT PC (Politically Correct) – a regretted and long-since discarded addiction. It’s hard to believe that my high school class is rapidly approaching our 50th reunion. (Ye gads, my age is showing!) I wonder how many of us still smoke. C’est la vie! (For those of us who took Latin instead of French, say lah VEE] Life goes on…

Continue reading » In the Rose Garden

Overwhelmed With Troubles?

June 5, 2009 - Posted by Ellie

Last Year

[This is an article I wrote in early 2008. On the “good news” side, one year later, my husband continues to be well; chemo, surgery and more chemo stemmed the tide and for the moment, tests come back with our dear friend “NED” – no evidence of disease. The tub’s been repaired and the toilets replaced. Life is good.]

Under siege in our battle against an aggressive cancer that has invaded my husband’s esophagus, and, aggravated by a pileup of life’s little irritations, I’m beginning to feel “whelmed” as in “overwhelmed” except that, with perhaps outrageously inappropriate optimism, I refuse to be “overed”! I depend on my resilience to bounce back from this onslaught of bad news.

Yeah, there’s all his BIG DEAL medical stuff. He’s had to deal with the biopsies, the cancer diagnosis, the tests, the chemo sessions and their repeated yucky aftermaths; and, lest we become complacent, I have a few medical issues of my own and we both have waaaay too many doc’ appointments.

Continue reading » Overwhelmed With Troubles?