September 9, 2021 - One decade... be present.

It’s been a decade since I got sick. I didn’t know then, that night, that my life was dramatically changed. I’ve done therapies, and they’ve...

June 16th, 2019 Letter to James - what about rehab?

By | Published Sunday, June 16, 2019




June 16th, 2019
Letter to James Clear
(Yes, I'm actually sending this letter :-) )

Hi James - since you don't have an e-mail address that you respond to, but you shared an old-fashioned paper mail address, I decided to try that.

I've listened to your book Atomic Habits, & I loved all the scientific evidence that you cite in your book. My one big disappointment however, is that other than sharing your story in the intro, you don't refer in your book to rehabilitation.

I'm doing neurological rehab - specifically Feldenkrais, vision therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy. I would have loved to have heard, throughout your book, how you used the habits you were learning, in your personal journey of recovery.  I think this would be a real service to anyone - in addition to myself - who's doing rehab. Also for people who are living with any number of disabilities -both visible and invisible. I believe there are unique issues in these circumstances.

Perhaps you have written about this - if so, I'd very much appreciate having access to this writing.  If not, I hope you'll consider writing about this in the future.  You could help SO many people.

Thank you, & I look forward to hearing back from you.
Tamar Schwartz, AKA Visible Person, Invisible Problem (blog site name, & Public FB page name)

(actual letter has my home address, phone no., & e-mail address - I hope he responds)



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June 14th, 2019 6 things to remember, & another list

By | Published Friday, June 14, 2019




I finished listening to James Clear's book Atomic Habits: Tiny changes, remarkable results. The strength of this book - what fascinated me - is he cites lots of scientific evidence (research, experiments), with dates for historical context, & people's stories.

The negative - except in the intro, he never talks about the severe head injury from which he had to recover. I wanted to hear more about his journey, & how he learned/applied his ideas to get to where he is now.

So, I decided to see what *I* could relate to my neurological rehab - & maybe it'll help some of my readers.

1) tiny neurological changes add up.  Change may be hard to see, but it's happening.  Awareness matters, notice even the smallest thing.

2) make home therapy accessible - see the pic of my Brock string, ready for use even with a busy background.  The string gets held by me at one end, so it's stretched out from the handle it's attached to.



3) show up - it's a guarantee that some days, parts of days, whatever, will be difficult. Doing something - even 1 rep of something, 1 min. - basically any small thing - is better than nothing.

Showing up isn't just about my therapy sessions, it's about doing things on my own.  It's showing up when it's hard that really makes me/you feel good about myself/yourself in the end.

4) make goals manageable - stamina is a really BIG idea, but I can break it down.
What kind of stamina? visual, vestibular, sound/sensory, often a combo?
Do something for a little bit less or more, depending on the thing - again, it adds up.

5) Change - rehab isn't static - add little changes, to keep learning, progressing.

6) Values - Christina and I talk about values, which helps me narrow my focus  - sometimes I feel like I have waaay too many things I want to work on. 

I want to make progress in therapy. This means hard work, & taking the long view, but also trying my best to live in the moment.

Enjoy what I can do now -

my current ability to manage our household

take care of our pets

make music, & find ways to be creative

weed flower pots by myself

plant flowers in flower pots by myself


walk our dog with Ron - or on my own when Ron's not around

Learn about my rehab - especially vision, which really interests me. Ask Qs, listen to articles, books on neurological rehab.

Recognize that having the ability to think about how I want to spend my time is a huge gain for me.



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June 9th, 2019 - wow, 40th plus!

By | Published Sunday, June 9, 2019




Here's this week's list -

1) going thru a LOT of receipts!

2) going thru some files

3) plunging a toilet myself - yup, whodathunkit, but this was a little step of independence LOL

4) playing my flute, & then our piano - I've never done both in one day before

5) another budget discussion with Ron - definite brainwork

And now for the BIG stuff -

6) doing vision therapy with a different therapist - Ann did a lesson plan, & I made the choice to do this - 1st time in about 3 yrs (in the past, I skip if she's unavailable).



7) I attended my 40th U-high (University of Chicago laboratory schools high school - yup, it's a mouthfull LOL) reunion  - some of the Alumni reception, did the class pic (see group shot), and the dinner!



Exhausting, but very glad I went - great to see my former classmates (God, is it really 40 years?!), & reconnect :-)
Ron & I parked by my parents house - they still live in the Hyde Park house where I grew up - I had my snack, & visited a bit, & then walked to school :-) talk about a trip down memory lane.



Some things VERY different, some things not.



My personal fav pic - the button I grabbed on the way out - I didn't look at it - in school colors, & then later read - it says "spread kindness be awesome" - if you spread kindness, you're awesome. Works for me.

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