The Wheel of Life, A Memoir of Living & Dying
By Elisabeth Kubler-Ross 286 pp. Hardcover, $22.00, 1997, ISBN: 0-684-19361-2,
Scribner
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross is known around the world for her pioneering work with the
terminally ill and their families. Without her, the hospice movement in America
would have lacked its strongest and most compassionate voice, and would have had
trouble even getting started.
As so often happens, her research–so vital to all of us–was ignored, criticized and
made fun of by her medical colleagues, but she stubbornly held on, because, for one
thing, pleasing fellow physicians and hospital administrators was not a necessary
part of the picture. On the other hand, helping patients, their families–and learning
from them–and helping medical students learn from them as well was where she
placed her unwavering attention.
And we are so lucky she did! Reading The Wheel of Life was a fascinating and
inspiring experience. I read it straight through and then read it again. I went out and
bought copies and sent them to my family. This was one of the special books I had
been waiting for–without knowing it until I discovered it. And when I found it, I
wanted to share it with everyone! The warmth, honesty and sheer weight of her
years of research will make this a most popular book.
Also, her life story is so interesting! And challenging…
About herself, she writes, “If I am opinionated and independent, if I am stuck in my
ways, if I am a little off center, so what? That is me.”
From myself, I invite everyone to treat themselves to a very special experience–to
journey along with Elisabeth as she tells the story of her life and what she found out
about life, death, the afterlife, and the all-importance of love through each along the
way. – Janna Hart
“Opportunity is missed by most people
because it is dressed in overalls
and looks like work.”
-Thomas Edison
The Open Road: Walt Whitman on Death and Dying
Edited by Joe Vest, approx. 110 pp. (unnumbered), Hardcover, $24.95, ISBN:
0-9636501-4-9, Four Corners Editions
As in living, so in dying. No one has lived more fully than Walt Whitman and in
speaking of death he leads us with his openness, freedom, and sincerity. His verses
inspire us to be poets, allow us to sit and feel the joy of life, the imagination
overflowing.
Come to this book for spiritual refreshment or share it as a gift. Share Whitman’s
songs, his wisdom.
The poems are illustrated by twenty duotone photographs that reflect the movement
and mystery of life. Some of the century’s most brilliant photographers are
represented here, including W. Eugene Smith, Ernst Haas, Linda Conner, Henri
Cartier-Bresson, William Garnett and Wynn Bullock. Their black and white imagery
captures the stark contrasts, the gentle graying, and the paradox that is our life and
death, (from liner notes).
The Open Road is set in a meditative format, without page numbers or a table of
contents. One can open it anywhere. It is timeless, allowing deep reflection. If we
could ever recommend a book for giving this would be it, and as it is most likely a
limited edition we would not hesitate to purchase it. We close with a short verse
from the book:
O Living Always, Always Dying
O living always, always dying!
O the burials of me past and present,
O me while I stride ahead, material, visible, imperious as ever;
O me, what I was for years, now dead, (I lament not, I am content:)
O to disengage myself from those corpses of me, which I turn and look at
where I cast them,
To pass on, (O living! always living!) and leave the corpses behind.
Grief and the Healing Arts: Creativity As Therapy
Edited by Sandra L. Bertman Baywood Publishing Company, Inc. Amityville, New York, 1999
415 pages
Editor, Author and Educator, Sandra L Bertman, Ph.D., has gathered a remarkable range of contributors for another text in the Death, Value and Meaning Series produced by Baywood publishing Company. The contributors include clinicians, physicians, educators, artists (photographers, filmmakers, dramatic artists, sculptors, etc.), art therapists, musicians, poets, and, contributors of religious background including a Buddhist nun.
The text is divided into four major sections which reflect the contents of the chapters in the section.The sections are: The Arts, Personal Griefs, Professional Roles; Some Ways Caregivers Use the Arts For Themselves and Those They Companion; Lessons From Cultures Old and New; and, Basic Needs of Grieving People.
In her introduction, Sandra Bertman indicates the audience and intention of the book: “This book is meant to refuel therapists, counselors, social workers, physicians, nurses, clergy, and all others who are committed to providing support to those in grief. My thesis is that if we let the artist residing deeply within us emerge, even the most seasoned therapist can become a more creative, more self-sustaining one. Each of us need periodic re-inspiration, booster shots to invigorate our imaginations and souls.”The four sections noted above take aim at this intention from varying points of view.
Page 2 of the text contains a poem, The Five Stages of Grief, by Linda Pastan. This poem notes the cyclical nature of grief in poignant terms and serves as an attention getter early on in the text. It signals that there is material here that is aimed at the heart of the reader. In addition to a number of poetry offerings, the text contains both short stories and some lines of a drama text. There are also some rather straightforward clinical and theoretical chapters. “On the Psychology of Loss” – by William M. Lamers, Jr. M.D., is straightforward theoretical material which includes an informative visual image called The Grief Cycle. (p26) which encapsulates the material in the chapter. Dr. Lamers, notes a cycle that includes: Loss, protest, despair, detachment, and recovery. There is much of value in this chapter, but Dr. Lamers seems to present grieving as a single cycle
heading toward “recovery” rather than acknowledging the cyclical nature so artfully expressed by Ms. Pastan.
Chapters on art therapy techniques with children include: “Using Art Therapy with Pediatric Oncology Patients” – by Linda G. Nicholas and Suzanne Lister; and, “Art Techniques for Children with Cancer” – by Barbara B. Sourkes. There is also a chapter called: “Puppets: Bridging the Communication Gap Between Caregivers and Children about Death and Dying” by Brenda Eng. These chapters are theoretical in content.
Other chapters include: “Movies as Movement: Films as Catharsis in Grief Therapy” – by Lynne Martins.”Sound and silence: Music Therapy in Palliative Care” – by Kevin Kirkland; and, “Keeping Emotional Time: Music in the Grief Process” by Lesleigh Forsyth.
The text includes 47 contributions in all. This addition to the Death, Value and Meaning
Series, is in this writer’s opinion well worth the reader’s investment.
Meeting The Needs Of Our Clients Creatively: The Impact of Art and Culture on Caregiving
Edited by John D. Morgan, Ph.D.
Baywood Publishing Company, Inc.; Amityville, New York, 2000
from the -Death, Value and Meaning Series- John D. Morgan, Ph.D. – series editor
This clinically oriented book, edited by John D. Morgan, contains many useful chapters from contributors with various academic, clinical, and ministerial credentials. The book is divided into two parts. The opening, shorter, section is Creative Caregiving: Theoretical Considerations. The remainder of the 313 page book is devoted to Creative Caregiving: Practical Applications.While this text is clearly aimed at a professional audience, there are chapters in the practical applications section that could easily be shared with some clients, and / or with the families of clients.
John. D Morgan’s contribution to the text contains the following few lines which seemed to capture the spirit of the volume: “The most important reality human beings must deal with is mortality and death.Whether this topic is approached from the perspective of medicine, psychology, religion, philosophy, music or poetry, death is often described in figurative images or phrases. Unlike language, the arts have the potential to express diverse themes simultaneously. Through the arts one can confront death on many levels at once. By engaging in an experience in the arts, people can be assisted as they mourn, grieve, celebrated life; they can overcome fragmentation, and find a sense of
meaning in their lives. Because the arts are regenerators of the body, mind, emotions, and spirit, persons can be enabled to live more fully while they are dying and grieving. What follows in the 14 chapters of the practical applications section are a range of offerings from writers of both religious and clinical backgrounds that address the intention of using art, music, story-telling, and humor to enable clients to live more fully whatever their place happens to be in the human drama of facing death.
The opening chapter of the practical applications section is “Pastoral Caregiving: Caring As Presence,” by, Rev. Fr. Richard B. Gilbert Reverend Gilbert addressed the importance of the quality of what the caregiver brings to the encounter with the client. He notes: “Presence is to walk with the person, neither directing nor following, surrendering the right or need to control for one of simply listening. It is to be present out of love, willing to listen (and to wait) to the person whatever he or she may be.” He encourages caregivers to both prepare for encounters with clients and to self-evaluate.
Other chapters in the text include four that are clearly aimed at children and adolescents, and one or two others that could easily be applied to younger clients. Chapter titles include: “Smashing Pumpkins and Blind Melons: Using Popular Music to Help Grieving Adolescents” – by Mindy Gough; “The Arts and Story: A Source of Comfort and Insight for Children Who are Learning about Death” – by Sandra L Berman; “Children, Death and Fairy Tales” – by Elizabeth P. Lamers: and, “Children’s Exposure to Sudden Traumatic Death: Bereavement, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and the Case
for Early Intervention” – by David W. Adams. Also applicable to children are the chapters: “The Dream Catcher and the Universality of Grief” – by Thomas O’Niel; and, “The use of Music as Therapy with the Dying and Bereaved” – by Lora Koenig Heller and Paul Alexander, which includes case studies related to children.
Other topics addressed in the test include various cross-cultural issues.Included are: “Facing life and Death:A Buddhist’s Understanding of Palliative Care and Bereavement” – by Leslie Kawamura; “Why have a funeral? Hindu Funerals in England: Past, Present, and Future” – by Pittu Laungani; and, “Creating rituals for the Non-Religious” – by Rev. Lloyd D. Smith.There is also a chapter related to working with formerly abused clients.
The concluding chapter of the book; “Hope and the Caregiver: A Journey Toward Self-Awareness” – by Darcie D. Sims, offers exercises, aimed at enhancing the self-awareness of caregivers, and at assisting caregivers in dealing with their own stress.
This text is, in this writer’s opinion, a serious, useful and compassionate contribution to the field.
e-mail baywood@baywood .com web site http://baywood.com
