Thank you housing crash and recession

I'd like to take a moment and truly thank the housing crash and recession. Now, I might sound a bit of kilter, but I am serious. Of course, my heart goes out to those that lost a lot, if not everything, because of this economy. However, I am blessed to be young and lucky. I am not the only one who has been impacted positively by this recession. For the first 2 years of the housing market crash I watched the carnage around me, disconnected from the reality of so many others. Our house on Catalina stayed afloat. At first we sailed high above the rising waters of negative equity, then we began to slowly sink but we did not sink...until this previous year. I have now become a homeowner with absolutely NO equity in my home. I am surrounded by kindred souls. Of course, I have weighed my options...walk away? short sale? rental property? But, what I have learned is patience. I have learned that we don't NEED a bigger, fancier, more perfectly located house just because we can. I have become content with what we have. We became more creative...What can we do to make this house, that we can't sell, our home? Rather than leaving and moving on to a higher mortgage payment we have molded the space of the house into OUR space. We have designed our bathroom specifically for us. We designed the yard for US. Everything we put into our house is for US with no concern over pleasing a future buyer, because the truth is, it might take over 10 years for us to even try selling to break even. And that's OK, because we get to design our environment with FULL knowledge that we will never remake the money.

This recession has also taught me that planning for the future is crucial. I don't look at the dollar in the same way anymore. I consider my spending more carefully and I have become evermore motivated to save and save and save because I know I won't have social security to depend on when I'm 65. And credit cards!! I hate them and will not use them unless I can pay them off immediately. It is so clear to me now, that I can't afford to pay interest because that interest payment could be going to my retirement. There is no doubt in my mind that tragedy can strike and I can be homeless in a matter of months, unless I pay attention to my financial habits. When the economy was growing in leaps and bounds I never stopped to think about losing it all. Now, even with an amazing career, which I am so blessed to have, I am aware that it could all be lost in the blink of an eye.

So, economy thank you for making me stay put for a while, for forcing me to be creative in the space I have, for making me save money and never use credit cards. Most of all, thank you for showing me how blessed I am in my life.

Exorcisms etc.

I think my patient needs an exorcism! I don't know how I feel about exorcisms, except that I have always been extremely disturbed by the thought. I have never watched the movie "The Exorcist" because I believe in good and evil. I believe in God and Satan. Therefore, movies with demonic possessions give me nightmares and create a hypervigilence in me to never accidentally allow myself to be possessed. I can't explain exactly why I believe my patient needs an exorcism. I can't put my finger on what is really wrong with her. I've diagnosed schizophrenia, but her symptoms are so bizarre and chilling. In her eyes I see a type of evil that can't be explained. Yet, I also see a terrified and tragic young girl who will cry the occasional tear. (not tears of blood thank God) Zyprexa or an exorcism? I really don't know.

Yoga Moves, Bites, and Villains

To summarize my week in words can never pay due respect to the insanity (no pun intended) of the last 5 days. There are numerous reasons why I love my job, but decidedly two of the top reasons are that it is NEVER expected and NEVER the same. There is no black and white; no algorithms; no expectations; and no preparation. People always ask me how I can do what I do. How can I not?! How many of you close your eyes and see the Hamburgler speaking in a Jack Nicholson voice? I bet you have never even thought of the possibility. My patient did. She was not crazy. By the way, I use the term "crazy" with no disrespect. In this case, for an unknown reason, her TBI (traumatic brain injury) generated visions of a small villain who stole hamburgers. He disappeared when she opened her eyes and was generally not a bother to her. I reassured she was not crazy, we laughed, and the consult was done. Can anyone explain this phenomenon? I doubt it.

Now picture this: A small-framed, young female who is unable to use her legs due to a previous spinal injury. Psychotic...REALLY psychotic...somehow falling in a controlled manner from her bed to the floor. But wait....she is doing a handstand with her legs crossed above her. See this website for a better visual http://www.yogini.jp/monkey/item_43.html So, while in this position she manages to quickly "walk" down the hall, pull the fire alarm, and bite 2 nurses. Moments later she is cross legged in bed and singing. I can't make this up.

How could I ever do another job?