How Bette Midler Helped Elders Launch Their Imagination

There is nothing more elating than facilitating the unleashing of imagination in the world of elders. As a play on Bette Midler's first name, I challenged a large group of elders to turn on their imaginations and complete the following sentence, "I bet you can . . ." Not everyone found this an easy task. Some of the participants, because of cognitive challenges or simply having lost the art of imagination, needed a little help. In those instances, when they said, "I don't know," I replied something like, "That's right. So-and-So is far too humble to admit it to the rest of us. So, why don't you (said coworker) tell the rest of us exactly what you know this person is capable of!" And, voila! The beauty of improv ushers forth a spirit of play. The result? Lots of laughter and camaraderie.

I "Bette" You Can - Photo by Kareen King

Reporting on the 2016 Pioneer Network Conference Experience

Pictured above is me mirroring Mavis during "To Be Somebody's Someone," one of two sessions I presented at the Pioneer Network Conference in New Orleans. Both sessions, "Let's Get Unreal!" a creative engagement half-day intensive, and "To Be Somebody's Someone," a 1 1/2 hour session featuring original songs and narratives about what it is to simply be with another human being in an "I-Thou" relationship, were well received.

I was thrilled when one of the participants in the "Let's Get Unreal" intensive, Debra Block of Hebrew Senior Life in Boston, approached me saying she's been using the curriculum from my book, "Engage! 28 Creative Enrichment Experiences for Older Adults" for about a year. She said, "I find it's the only curriculum I can relate to as an Artistic Theatre Activities Director." All 40 of the books sold out at the Pioneer Network Bookstore. If you're interested in purchasing one for yourself, click here.

Another woman, Kathie Ferguson of Levonia, MI, shared after the session that she jumped right in and created a rough draft of her own creative engagement event, "Mardis Gras Experience."

The 2016 conference, titled "Revolutionizing the Culture of Aging," featured a plethora of sessions on ways to facilitate a culture of aging that is life-affirming, satisfying, humane, and meaningful. One highlight was the Tuesday Morning plenary keynote, "CNA Edge," featuring three Certified Nursing Assistants who blog about what it's like to work in the trenches of long-term care. They relayed the gap between them and the rest of the "system," saying that genuine culture change can't truly change until caregivers are understood. The following list conveys some of what they experience in the trenches:

1. They learn to adapt quickly.

2. Conversations that are insane to others are their norm.

3. They meet demands that make no sense.

4. They shrug off being bombarded by bodily fluids.

5. Humor saves their sanity.

6. They have days that make them wonder why they're in this field.

7. If they stay in this field long enough, their perception will be changed.

One thing was clear. They deeply care for the elders they serve, and are committed in spite of the less than desirable hourly wage. They don't appreciate when others tell them that being a CNA is just a stepping stone to a better career.

A personal highlight was a session facilitated by Molly Middleton Meyer, founder of Mind's Eye Poetry. Upon returning to the trenches the day after the conference, I immediately applied her practical tools on facilitating a meaningful and engaging poetry experience. I'll blog about that in a separate post. But, for now, here's a teaser. It's just one of several poems created collectively from three different group of residents. This one was created by six women with advanced dementia.

Preferred

I see a man playing a guitar

He’s wearing green, yellow, red

He’s wearing a hat

He’s singing

I hope it’s a happy song

Someplace where there’s a crowd

Where people gather with friends

He’s singing loudly

It’s beautiful

What makes me happy is food

What makes me happy is when I’m preferred

Because I do

Sometimes I feel preferred

Sometimes not

It depends on who it is

We all see around here

And now, I leave you with a collage of images of Bourbon Street.

Creatively yours,

Kareen

How to Creatively Address Fear with Elders

I took this photo, assuming the black snake was dead. Had I known he was only playing possum because of his terror of me, I would never have gotten down on my hands and knees and inched my face so closely toward his to get this shot.

Of what are you terrified? Are you afraid to talk about the elephant in the room? Some people are afraid to open a can of worms by avoiding topics such as death and pain.  I find this ironic, especially in the world of elders. I believe it’s important to tap into the stuff that’s brewing in their psyche and allow them to voice their most authentic fears, losses, and affections.

I decided to test my theory by addressing fear during a creative engagement experience with a gathering of Assisted Living residents.  Research concludes that fear is one of the four basic emotions which include happy, sad, and anger/disgust. After our standard warm-up, followed by a few scary knock-knock jokes, I asked them to name their fears so we could compare their list with research. Their list included storms, death, heights, burglars, falling, having teeth pulled, “losing all my money,” becoming “senile,” losing family, mean dogs, and of course, rats, mice, spiders, and snakes.

Then it got deeper. Here’s what happened:

ME: O.k., so we’re going to create a haiku about fear. A haiku is a poem with three lines. The first and third have five syllables, and the second line has seven. Let’s come up with our first line. The line doesn’t have to have five words, but five syllables.

SHE#1: Drowning.

ME:  Drowning? How about we make that work for what fear does to us?  Our last line could end with, “I’m drowning in fear.” There. Five syllables! So, what are we afraid of? Let’s pick out something.

THEY: Imagination.

ME: Perfect. That’s another five syllables. So, what about our middle line? It needs seven syllables.

SHE#2: The water came up too fast.

ME: The water came up too fast?

SHE#1: My husband drowned in a pond.

ME: Oh, my goodness! I’m so sorry. Thank you for not being afraid to share that with us. That must have been a terrible thing for you.

(I walk toward SHE #1 and give her a hug)

SHE#1: Thanks. I needed that.

I encourage you not to be afraid to address the deeper emotions of the individuals you serve. They are simply waiting for you to open the door, give them a voice, and embrace them.

Fear Haiku

Imagination

The water came up too fast

I’m drowning in fear

Creatively yours,

Kareen

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” – H.P. Lovecraft