The One Habit I Wish I Had Discovered in My Twenties, by John P Weiss

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The One Habit I Wish I Had Discovered in My Twenties

Henry sits quietly in his wheelchair, a marooned shell of a man.

He is old, inert, depressed, hardly responsive, and barely alive. Can anything pull him out of the lonely, dark world he inhabits?

Fortunately for Henry, he has Yvonne Russell.

Yvonne is a recreation therapist, and she uses an iPod and earphones to play some of Henry’s favorite music from the past.

What happens next is nothing short of a miracle. Henry comes alive. Oliver Sacks, the late physician, best-selling author, and professor of neurology, says in the video:

“The philosopher Kant once called music the ‘quickening art’ and Henry is being quickened, he is being brought to life.”

We watch as Henry starts to dance with his arms and sing to the music. Afterward, the earphones are removed and Henry is asked questions.

Normally mute and unresponsive, Henry becomes quite voluble and expressive.

Dr. Sacks goes on to note:

“So in some sense, Henry is restored to himself. He has remembered who he is and has reacquired his identity for a while through the power of music.”

When asked what music does to him, Henry answers: “It gives me the feeling of love.”

As much as this video demonstrates the power of music, it also shows Henry doing something that is deeply important for happiness.

It’s something we can all do but often neglect in this age of rapid distractions, side hustles, and 24/7 busyness.

We read to know we’re not alone

Iused to read to my mother.

In her final years, the tremors of Parkinson’s disease destroyed her fine motor skills. Holding a book was impossible.

A lifelong reader, Mom missed the joy of immersing herself in a good book. We tried audiobooks, but she was unable to control electronic devices.

I hired a woman named Suzanne to read to my mother twice weekly when I could not be there, but Mom preferred to socialize with Suzanne. So, I became Mom’s reader, enabling her to experience worlds outside her contorted body.

“We read to know we’re not alone.”— William Nicholson, Shadowlands

Over time I noticed something profound. Because my mother was unable to walk or even hold a book, the world she lived in slowed down.

Conversations became immensely important and pleasurable for Mom. When I read to her, she became quiet and completely transfixed. Meals and desserts were almost holy occasions for Mom.

She was doing something that the rest of us, in our busy lives of commitments and ambitions, often fail to do.

She was savoring the moments.

Opportunities to linger in a positive moment

There are so many things we can savor if we just learn to slow down. We can savor a meal, a relationship, a conversation, a book, a movie, a piece of music, past memories, and more.

According to a psychologytoday. com article: “Savoring just means that we attempt to fully feel, enjoy, and extend our positive experiences. Savoring is a great way to develop a long-lasting stream of positive thoughts and emotions, because positive events cannot always be relied on to make you happier.”

Taking the time to savor the things you enjoy can lead to greater happiness in life. It can also lead to greater creativity.

Consider the following excerpt from an article on the benefits of savoring in positivepsychlopedia.com: “In Savoring: A New Model of Positive Experience, authors Fred B. Bryant and Joseph Veroff posit that savoring may be part of creativity. Although savoring isn’t the same as flow — the state of intense absorption that heightens performance — it does share the features of clear focus and attention to the present. When we savor, we pay more attention to details and complexity, which may come in handy later when our brains seek out the raw materials of creative ideas. Experiences that were once savored can become the fodder for written masterpieces, scientific experiments, and great business ideas.”

The great outdoors, kind people, amazing meals, books, and deep conversations are more than just nice things to experience.

They are opportunities to linger in a positive moment.

Opportunities to savor.

Another way to exercise being present

My father used to enjoy summer days sitting outside on his patio. He would sip iced tea, relax, listen to the birds, and daydream. In essence, he was savoring the moment.

What’s the difference between savoring and mindfulness?

According to an article in OutsideOnline.com: “Like mindfulness, savoring is another way to exercise being present, but it takes things a step further. ‘Mindfulness asks you to observe the present moment without judging it and then let go of it,’ explains Fred Bryant, a psychology professor at Loyola University who pioneered the field of research. ‘Whereas with savoring, you observe a specific type of moment, a positive one, and then you try to cling onto it and not let it go.’”

by John P. Weiss

John P. Weiss with his mom. She had Parkinson’s, and he frequently read to her.

“COVID Update” from page 7

Scotts Valley Middle School had 19 cases and Scotts Valley High 11 cases. Both reported zero staff cases.

Pajaro Valley schools, with 19,000 students, reported 138 staff cases in January. District administrators filled in for sick teachers.

Aptos High Athletic director Travis Fox suspended indoor sports because testing results did not arrive before game time. Teams have since resumed play.

The CDC says schools in Santa Cruz County are in “substantial exposure,” which prompts a protocol focusing on testing instead of tracing who is spreading virus.

This means unvaccinated students must test twice per week. Those who do not test must quarantine at home and participate in Independent Studies. They are not allowed to participate in athletics and band.

Employer Mandate

On Jan. 13, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration mandate to large employers to vaccinate or test. That means 100 or more employees.

The ruling affects an estimated 84 million workers — and a minority of employers in Santa Cruz County where 82% of businesses have nine or fewer employers. Many of the large employers are medical facilities, schools or colleges.

The ruling said the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which regulates occupational hazards, did not have the right to regulate public health broadly.

The court allowed a federal vaccine mandate applying to medical facilities that take Medicare or Medicaid payments. That affects an estimated 100,000 workers.

OSHA said it is withdrawing the vaccine and testing requirements for large employers. Employers can mandate vaccines or tests for their employees if they feel it’s needed.

Protesting Mandates

On Jan. 23, Children’s Health Defense, headed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. https://vaers.hhs, rallied 20,000 to 30,000 people to a peaceful protest in Washington, D.C., at the Lincoln Memorial, calling for an end to vaccine mandates, a strategy used by President Biden and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Kennedy, an attorney and a passionate advocate for vaccine choice, mentioned Anne Frank, who was Jewish, hiding to escape Nazis, a reference for which he apologized a day later.

In Brussels, 50,000 people filled the streets, protesting vaccine passports and Covid restrictions. Masked demonstrators broke a glass entrance to the office of the EU’s foreign policy agency, an action recorded on Twitter, and police fired water cannons and tear gas to break up the protest.

Public health officials say the scientific consensus is that Covid vaccines are safe, but protest leaders were skeptical about relying on science from drug-makers, which saw profits rise in 2021. They point to the U.S. government database, https:// vaers.hhs.gov where health care providers are to report adverse events after a vaccine.

The reporting site was created after Congress passed a law in 1986 protecting vaccine manufacturers from civil personal injury lawsuits and wrongful death lawsuits resulting from vaccine injuries.

After Covid arrived, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar invoked the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, a 2005 law that allows the HHS secretary to provide legal protection to companies making or distributing critical medical supplies such as vaccines unless there’s “willful misconduct” by the company, according to a report by CNBC.

This lowers the cost of immunizations, and the protection lasts until 2024. HHS declined requests by CNBC for an interview.

Dr. Pamela Popper of Ohio has sued HHS, FDA and CDC concerning use of vaccines for kids under 16, hopes to get discovery, the point at which both sides can get evidence. Updates are at https:// makeamericansfreeagain.com/

On Jan. 6, federal judge Allen Winsor ruled in Florida to deny a motion by the U.S. Department of Defense seeking to block discovery of evidence. The lawsuit was filed by 18 service members challenging the vaccine mandate.

Hospitalization

The question is: Will hospitalizations in Santa Cruz County rise — or decline, as in San Francisco.

Possibly people entered the hospital with another condition or for scheduled surgery, then got tested for Covid. The state dashboard does not explain.

Local cases are split between Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz and Watsonville Community Hospital, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection while trying to orchestrate a sale to a Pajaro Valley consortium. Bids are due Feb. 14.

Earlier, county health officials urged people with no symptoms or mild symptoms to stay home rather than going to the hospital emergency department.

Under the 1986 federal law EMTALA, emergency departments must treat everyone who comes in, regardless of ability to pay — an unfunded mandate.

Responding to a Times query via email, the California Department of Public Health estimates Omicron comprises 91% of cases statewide and Delta 6.5% but the state does not have a breakdown of Omicron hospitalizations or deaths.

Not all COVID-19 cases requiring hospitalization are sequenced, the state emailed in response to the query, and the proportion of cases due to the Omicron variant that die is still being determined.

Santa Cruz County reports 239 Covid deaths, up from 225 as of Dec. 15.

One statistic is similar then and now: 79 percent of those who died had preexisting conditions.

Who do people fear Omicron?

It could be they have a pre-existing condition (diabetes, obesity, asthma, high blood pressure).

Half of Americans do, so they are at higher risk for severe Covid illness. So are people 85 and older.

Some people who got Covid experience “long Covid,” with symptoms such as fatigue and brain fog months afterward.

A 2022 study in the journal Cell by researchers who followed more than 200 patients found biological factors that might help predict “long Covid.” At diagnosis, many acute patients had low cortisol, which could be addressed.

Testing

When active cases skyrocketed in Santa Cruz County, there was greater exposure, great demand for testing, and delayed results.

Santa Cruz County Office of Education, which partnered with Inspire Diagnostics to provide 245,600 tests, posted that results may now take 48 to 96 hours. An optimal turnaround is 24 hours.

The County Office of Education offers drive-though testing for students, staff and families at these locations:

Cabrillo College, Aptos, Parking Lot K, Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, 2601 E. Lake Ave., Watsonville, Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Santa Cruz County Office of Education, 399 Encinal St., Santa Cruz, Monday to Friday, 2 to 5 p.m.

On Feb. 2, the California Department of Public Health reported a 13.4% test positivity rate statewide, down from 23% and 18.8% earlier in the month.

For information about testing, isolation guidance and masking, see the Jan. 7 letter from school superintendents on the county Office of Education website.

“COVID Update” page 23

Rotary Club of San Lorenzo Valley’s Vax the Valley free clinic at Felton Community Hall on Wednesdays from 1 p.m.-7 p.m.