Harbor Pilots and haiku

Hi, everybody. I'm a few minutes late. This is Kathy Joy, and I'm live with you from Erie, Pennsylvania, on the codrosphere. I just got done accompanying my daughter to her well, baby check. Actually, it was a checkup for her, but we had her new son, my grandson, who's two weeks old, and the big sister, who's almost three. So we had a doctor's visit, and guess what, you guys, I. Anybody there? It says debug. What does that mean? Connect. Uh oh. Oh, there's Anna. There's Cafe Marissa. I don't know what this connect means.

Cloud flare. But you guys are talking to me, so I'm staying on. And again, I apologize for being a couple three minutes late. It seems like I can leave the house with toddler snacks in my bag and three pair of reader glasses, but no phone. My phone was still plugged in at home, and so now I'm just getting home from being at the doctor's office with my grandbaby and my daughter, and here I am. So I have so been looking forward to talking to y'all. My dog's in her kennel. She's not happy about it.

I was gonna go sit on the swing, but I think I'm gonna stay inside. Yeah, I'm staying inside because I know the Wi fi is really good in here. So over my shoulder, you can see a lighthouse. So you know I'm a harbor girl. Harbor pilots, baby. Harbor pilots. So today, as advertise, we're talking about small things that are mighty about small things that make a big impact on caregiver day. My handle is speak wonder. My name is Kathy Joy, and it seems like I've become known on the quadrosphere when I interact with other speakers as speak wonder.

So that's what I'm rolling with. Speak wonder and harbor pilots. So in the harbor scene, steering a ship absolutely requires precise control. It has been argued that the Titanic's rudder was too small and, in fact, played a factor in the demise of the unsinkable. My neighbor has a motorcycle. Can you hear that? I love live streams. So when we think of the huge size and weight of a ship or a large vessel, or in this case, human beings, are the weights that we carry and the size of our task as caregivers.

The rudder needs to be maneuvered properly. It helps the ship's captain figure out. Bye bye. It helps the ship's captain figure out the direction in which the ship is going to turn. Anila. Hi. Oh, you're so sweet. Too. Hi. Kathy, my friend. Hello. Hello. Jules. Who else have I not said? Stephen. Stephen. Stephen. Amelia. Titanic. Check out the book when it discusses how timing was a factor as well. Thank you for that, Anila. I will check that out. So the rudder is a fin. It's similar in looks to a fin.

And I'm sure you can picture a rudder, a small but mighty factor, in steering the ship. Our lives can be weighty because caregiving is cumbersome. And sometimes it just feels overwhelming and it causes us to lean and list and maybe even lose our way. And the ship goes into unknown waters, which is why we need our harbor pilots, and particularly today, our rudder. Your rudder is your person who quietly helps you stay the course. So the rudder is unseen. It's under the radar, in the physical world and in the world of caregiving.

And your rudder is reliable. Small and reliable. In the Bible, in the New Testament, it says, a small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain, sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word of your mouth may seem of no account, but your word can accomplish nearly anything or destroy it. By our speech, we can cause ruin, and by our mouth, we can bring beauty into chaos. James, three, four, six. In the New Testament, the tongue is cluttered. Another quote that I found to share with you today is from Shakespeare's a midsummer night's dream.

And though she be but little, she is fierce. Who in your life is little but fierce? Who is small but mighty? Who is quiet but oh, so reliable in your caregiver story? Let me tell you about Clara. She's my mom's roommate at the care home. And she's. She's small. Happens to be small in stature. She scoots around with her feet in a wheelchair, and she's got white, white hair and a perpetual, genuine smile. She's quiet. And when she says something, I lean in because she's soft spoken. And I always want to hear what Clara has to say.

Two nights ago, Clara saw me. She noticed me. She knew I'd been with mom. And of course, they're roommates, so we share in conversations and meals. And Clara kind of signaled me to come over to where she was across the room, and she said, honey, when you get home tonight, would you promise me something? I said, sure. What? I want you to take a long bath, and I'm going to ask you about it. When I see you again, I want you to draw a nice warm bath and maybe put some bubbles in there and get you some of those little tea lights.

And light them up, put them all around the tub because you deserve it. She didn't mention wine, and I did entertain the thoughts of a glass of wine, but I didn't follow through with that. I did the bath because, sweet, dear Clara, my rudder this week helped my ship not to get into unsettled waters. She saw me. She saw I was tired and carrying the weight of caregiving. You know, I think sometimes it's the ones who are tenderly cared for appropriately by others that notice the caregiver the most. And she reached out.

She said, I want you to take a bath and pamper yourself. And again she repeated, because you deserve it. Thank you, Clara. In the harbor, scene of life this week, you have been my rudder. And so, dear cadres, fear person watching this live and maybe the replay today, later, who is your rudder? And who might you be a rudder to? Who might you notice and in a calm, quiet, steady way, get their ship, their vessel, their life back on track when they're listing and leaning and the waves are pulling them down?

Because caregiving can be fun, it can have laughter, and it can also be cumbersome and difficult. Who is your rudder? And who might you be a rudder to? Later today on the Cadre, you're going to be with Jamie trauma. At a quick glance, check out Cadre for times. You might have to do some calculating because I'm eastern time and I think a lot of you are mid states and Pacific. Central, Pacific and eastern. I'm eastern on the lake, Lake Erie in Pennsylvania. Shannon Paul will bring you comedy through the chaos today, caregiver day.

And later on we'll be with JC Lippold and family ties. Now, as is becoming my practice, I have haiku for you. And I brought my little haiku book. You know, haiku is little but mighty. It's three verses, seven syllables, no, five syllables, then seven, then five. And since the rudder is small but powerful, it's little but very effective. It is pithy but necessary. That rudder under that ship, it's unseen, it's quiet. So is the haiku. The discipline of haiku, which is japanese, is poetry that specifically contains one line of five syllables, a second line of seven, and a third line of five.

And here's what I wrote for you today. To pause and ponder small forgotten miracles is to breathe once more. That's your haiku. That's your poetry. Today on Caregiver day from speak wonder, the harbor lady. Sneak peek for next week. Next Thursday, caregiver day. Thursday of next week, I'll have a new thing I'm going to tell you. A new thing to unveil. Just in time for summer solstice. We'll see you in the cadres, fear.