RCG-I Seasonal Salon Summer Solstice 2009
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Summer Solstice 2009 Salon Home Page Study of Goddess Myths and Images |
By Choice or Chance: Advance Health Care Directivesby Bellezza SquillaceIn this time of increased awareness of energy management, most of us have learned to shield ourselves from outside forces that can drain our personal reserves. We know about environmental pollutants that include chemicals in our food, lighting sources, sounds, smells, and even how a simple handshake from someone who is under stress affects our own energy or attitudes. I am not sure that we understand how the countless life style choices we make also drain us over time. My body surprised me recently with three waves of severe leg cramps. I had flown across the country the day earlier, made a 4-hour drive from the airport, then sat in an all-day conference drinking coffee rather than water. Each cramp lasted longer and was more excruciating, going from one leg and then into both. A number of healers stepped up to help.
They provided drinking water, scanned each of my legs energetically, and asked for symptoms. My response to this bizarre pain was not pretty. I was out of control in my behavior, my thoughts, my ability to work energy and to do my own holy healing magick. I couldn’t fake being pleasant and even a gentle touch brought out my dark side because of the intense pain. All possible causes for the cramps were considered by people around me, including Simple Dehydration to the life-threatening Deep Vein Thrombosis. Pain knocked me off my center, flung me away from my belief system and dumped me into the depths of chaos and confusion. Again, not pretty. Good Samaritan laws in the United States are laws or acts protecting from liability those who choose to aid others who are injured or ill. They are intended to reduce bystanders' hesitation to assist, for fear of being sued or prosecuted for unintentional injury or wrongful death, or by creating health care costs that a person can ill afford. I wondered how a secular law applied to a community of Goddess Wimmin who create magick and who are, by nature, gifted and intuitive healers. We have ethics on how we send healing energy to each other. We wait until we are asked for help, and we ask if our help is appropriate. This was such a different experience for me that I knew there was a lesson in it that was important for me to recognize. Up to this point, I understood the role of the healer. I had not been the recipient of healing in this very public way and something sacred in it challenged me like a Guardian at the Gate. I had not explored the ethics of the person needing assistance nor understood the disruption of energy management that being in pain can bring.
I considered how important having an Advanced Directive for my health care options is at my age, or at any age, and whether it is needed if I am at home or traveling. It could have been serious. It could have been a life-threatening blood clot. Someone might have bundled me up and taken me to the hospital for my own good because I was approaching a moment in time where I was unable to decide what was best. When we think of receiving “greater good” in the medical system, the first thing many wimmin consider is being able to pay for the treatment. It is terrifying to think of the high cost of health care during any incident if one has no insurance. The time for weighing costs and choices is not when you are unable to think clearly and respond appropriately. The Kaiser Family Foundation Report, published a few years ago, said that 16 million wimmin across the U.S. have no insurance coverage, and coverage rates vary widely from place to place. States with the lowest percentage of uninsured wimmin were Minnesota (7.9 percent), Wisconsin (8.9 percent) and Delaware (8.9 percent). Those with the highest percentage of uninsured were Texas (28.3 percent) and New Mexico (28.1 percent). Many insurance contracts, like mine in California, will not cover clients outside their own systems, even in emergency situations. Responsibility for our personal care begins within each of us while we are able-bodied, mindfully thinking, emotionally clear and spiritually conscious. A good place to start is by gathering information about insurance as well as writing an Advanced Health Care Directive. Questions in the form get you thinking about many of the unforeseen events that are possible to our lives and help you choose which solution is best for you. The intent is for each person to be able to select the kind of care she wants and for how long it should continue. The link below gives guidance for the state-by-state regulations. For those of us who travel, our Directive should meet requirements of all those states we visit. It makes good sense to keep a copy with you to be prepared for the unexpected event no matter how good you think your protection magick is. Travelers’ Insurance for medical emergencies adds 7-10% to the cost of your trip, depending on location, your health and age. An extra $60-$100 is not always something most wimmin in good health with limited income have to spend on an event that might only be a possibility. Therefore, this insurance becomes part of the thinking, planning and choices involved in your Directive. We must love ourselves so deeply that we can take full personal responsibility as soon as we own this consciousness. There is no right season or reason for this discussion. It is not a summer topic unless you have heat stroke, or choke on a fish bone, or have a bad car accident. There is no comfortable time or age of life to look at this issue. We uphold legal rights to choose whom to love, where to live, work, pray and play and whether or not to give birth. Perhaps time has come for us to explore ethical, responsible energy management that maintains the positive quality of our life as it changes or diminishes. It is our goddess-given responsibility to choose when to be still, when to release, when to surrender, when and how to die. By choice or by chance. It will happen. |
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