Think Draw Forums
Forums - General Discussion - Difficult times....

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1. 11 Jul 2016 20:43

Qsilv

I don't do this very often... hijack the forum for a diatribe... and when I do, seems like I generally kind of tuck it into something else (Channel Baldur!) rather than start a thread of its own.

This time, tho'... well, those of you who remember me from way back know I think of TD as a kind of Garden Party... there's room for discussion of all sorts of things, but always kindly, with just the occasional sly dig, but always respect for our hosts, and tolerance (and great role models!) for the kids running through the place!

What with the current politics, worries, insecurity, frustration, outright brutalities and increasingly raging adrenaline, it occurred to me you might enjoy finding on the picnic table a sort of Pavlova ...a gentle meringue with strong fruit bits throughout...

I figure in a nation of 300+ million people, if a paramedic supervisor can send a gently worthwhile message to a few hundred of his crew, it might be good for a few hundred active TDers too... or... y'know... you can just move along to the devilled eggs...
;>


2. 11 Jul 2016 20:48

Qsilv

Family

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8d0f6cBCLw
–Greg Thompson, Director of Operations, MEMS - Metropolitan Emergency Medical Services of Little Rock Arkansas - July 8, 2016

"I want to tell you about a couple things today; one of them is the vest.
We have chosen Safariland as the manufacturer that we’re using for our [ballistic protection] vest.

We’ve already fitted those who were in the test program and we’re finishing up the RFP. We’ll be ordering them for everyone in the next few days, so stand by for that. But it’s not just about the vests. It’s also “head on a swivel” and practicing “Safe Medic”, and there’ll be more training to go along with that.

The thing that I wanted to also tell you about was… I just…. I have a focus right now other than staffing… my main focus right now is your mental health.
I think about all the issues that are happening right now in our world... our nation… the struggles we’ve been having in lots of different areas… the mass shootings… and the division that’s happening right now around all kinds of people-groups.

I think one of the things I’ve always appreciated about MEMS –and it’s made me a richer man— is our diversity.

Here you can find about any lifestyle or color or belief or… whatever label you want to use to describe how we’re the same and how we’re different… you can find it here.

And I’ve always felt like that we’re a “soft place to land”… no matter how you identify yourself, that we seem to have found a way… just because we are representative of our environment, our community… that we have found a way to be family.

Judgment here is about how well you’re able to do your skills; the judgment doesn’t lie around all those other factors.

I say again, I think that’s made me a richer man, a deeper man, in fact.

But yet in our world right now the struggles have to do with all those differences, and they’re being magnified, and cause us to go against each other.

We’re going to be taking care of a hurting community. We’re going to be taking care of a hurting world. It’ll be chaotic. But the chaos must not be here inside us. It can’t be here inside this family.

We’ve had each other through good times. We’ve had each other through bad times. We’ve helped each other see life through different perspectives. And with all that’s happening around us, I hope we don’t forget that this has been a Soft Place to Land, and that, no matter what, we are Family.

I ask you again in the coming days to monitor a few things… things you know, but… I remind ya… they call me Papa for a reason.

*- I remind you to be careful with your social media. Be careful what you’re putting out; be careful what you’re taking in. You know what it does to you, you know how it rises anger; you know how we begin to read into things with each other that may or may not be there.

*- I’m asking you to be careful with your news, and the steady diet of all the what-if’s and negatives and nay-says right now… it’s going to make us critical. I’m not saying bury your head in the sand --that’s not it at all. I’m saying be careful and notice how it begins to affect you. Don’t let it.

*- I’m asking you to be careful of your alcohol.

*- I’m asking you right now to be careful of those stress factors… I’m asking you to exercise.

*- And I’m asking you to tell the people who matter the most to you, that they matter the most to ya. I’m asking you to tell somebody you haven’t told in a while that you love ‘em.

*- I’m asking you to take care of yourself… and remember we’re family here. We’re different… but we complete each other, in so many ways.

I think of Frankl, who said that when you lose the ability to change your circumstance, then you must begin to change yourself. Right now, in the middle of all this, I’m asking you to take a deep look inside.

I’ll tell you the truth… some days I don’t like my job… but one thing is true… that I love the people.

I haven’t told you in a while… I love you guys.

Heads up. We’ll tell the story in years to come, and the fact that we tell it says we made it."


3. 11 Jul 2016 21:07

Hazer

Thanks for sharing with us Q!

4. 19 Jul 2016 12:40

Normal

Qsilv - that is a diatribe I wish every person in our nation and around the world could hear. I won't be moving on to the egg salad. I will be feeling the creaky sensation of an old heart growing larger. Thanks for bringing this to us!

5. 5 Aug 2016 04:35

marg

So sorry I missed this one - and it's hardly a diatribe, Qsilv, if the message and delivery are so sweetly loving !

TD is a family, even if some of us stray for a bit, for whatever reason - so thanks for reiterating the true meaning of community.

Umm.. you said there was some meringue somewhere ?.. I'm awfully partial to meringue

6. 19 Aug 2016 11:27

marius

Haven't checked into TD in quite a spell but what a lovely surprise! Thanks for sharing words of loving kindness, Qsilv!

Good so see I still know some of the folks at the TD garden party. And hey marg, I'll save the meringue for you and if you happen to see the dark chocolate truffles ... won't mind a bit if you send them my way. : )

7. 19 Aug 2016 11:28

marius

and in honor of Baldur ... -so and +to

8. 12 Sep 2016 14:29

clorophilla

I'm here too. I suppose I missed some struggle here in TD in the last 12 months. But I love to see you Qsilv in the gallery and to read your lovely words.
I still see TD a quiet place to return, whatever could happen.

I had a very hard time last year, my mother had serious health issues, and that's why you saw me so few times. But hope it's just a moment, for me, and for every one is in difficult times just now.

9. 18 Oct 2016 12:38

Login

Dear Q, you've always been TD's calming influence, the voice of reason and sanity ... and you've always woven humour into your comments. From the heart ... you're lovable.

10. 22 Apr 2017 11:38

matthew

I am just here to add the occasional sly dig...

11. 27 Jul 2017 20:56

mobilehack

Very dufficult times

12. 3 Sep 2020 15:50

Hazer

I am so sad that I have lost this outlet of expression due to having lost access to Adobe Flash. So many emotions that require a face to express them. I miss my TD friends. I can't even watch a playback of your pics. Fall is just around the corner, my favorite time of year. Such a beautiful season. I hope everyone has had a good summer, and I look forward to seeing some of the fall colors in the gallery, as well as some haunted houses! Take care, my friends.

13. 29 Sep 2020 00:27

ellisael

new to the forum but very heartened by the support i am witnessing here- beautiful