No, it's not spring in my neck of the woods, but it IS the beginning of a new rotation in my internship. At long last I am free of the insanely intensive workload that's been suffocating me for months! Of course I can't really be sure of that, seeing as I haven't begun my next rotation, but just having one week of observations instead of being on the hot seat is a delightful prospect. This will be a mini-rotation, lasting only 8 weeks, so in the end it will probably end up being rushed and busy (my assessments and individual caseload is ongoing), but I'm clinging firmly to a positive mental attitude and looking forward to working with a different rotation supervisor. The problematic primary is still that, though a bit better at the mo. I don't pretend that our issues are in the past, now that I've had a taste of that roller coaster, but at least I'll endure a whole lot less of him from here forward! It was interesting to hear that the other intern will NOT be having him when she gets to that rotation. And my understanding is that he is usually the only one who does it. I hope that means that the department is taking my difficulties seriously. I'm just very relieved for my fellow intern that she won't have to go through what I did.
And in case changing things up isn't enough to lift my spirits, it's not long until Christmas break and then New Year's break as well. I'm getting really REALLY good at using my off time to recoup now. It seems as if over the years, as the pressures and stress level of grad school escalated, I slowly but surely let my self-care rituals fall by the wayside. I was great at advising others on the topic, but lousy at following my own advice. And ya know, even after 22 years of ushood with my other half, I'm still learning new and wonderful things about him! Ok, well it's more likely we're both changing, but either way, I'm just ridiculously thankful for his bottomless support.
And oh my silly pets! Today was cold and overcast so the birds were in most of the day. My Senegal Parrot, Gus, was just a goofball all day long. He purred, gurgled, (beak)farted, and giggled for us, and kept puffing up like a stuffed toy. He KNOWS he's cute and he milks it for all he's worth. Good thing I wasn't intent on accomplishing anything useful. :) My other Sennie, Teranga, kept tossing cranberries on the floor for the cat to chase. Who knew cranberries made such great cat toys? Nice, too, because they don't turn to mush like the grapes she usually throws. And my cockatiel, Chewie, sat on my shoulder and nibbled my ear for hours. Bliss...
So tomorrow is a long walk and baking cookies with friends, and maybe getting a Christmas tree.Not sure if there will be time for the latter. It's kind of cold and cloudy here, but I'm making myself go outside a little every day and connect with the planet in one way or another.
1/3 of the way through this odyssey!
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4 comments:
Until I read started reading your blog I had no idea that birds had such big personalities, or that they were pets like other animals... I guess I thought they stayed in a cage and squawked on occasion, and didn't care who was feeding them. But your birds sound delightful!
My Aunt used to have an older African Grey and a very young Amazon...Sweetpea and Trucker, respectively. Sweetpea was mean, she bit everyone except my Aunt and I! She was funny though...she would call me to her..."hey you, BLONDIE" ( have no real idea where she got that from, she only said it to me), then she would stick her head out between the rungs on her cage and grab a rung with her beak and PURR! She purred louder when I pet her head and neck, which was what she wanted. LOL Trucker got his name because he liked to sit on top of my cousin's huge Tonka dump truck and be pushed around...he would " say 10-4 good buddy" over and over! I really like birds...but I have a crazy teenage cat so getting a bird now is out of the question.
On another note...its supposed to snow here tomorrow ( a little north of SF)!! I am in shock.
African Greys are awesome!
Stamm put some good stuff together about self-care:
Stamm, BH (Ed) 1995. Secondary traumatic stress: Self-care issues for clinicians, researchers, and educators. Lutherville, MD: Sidran Press.
I have a quick write-up on what other psychologists found to be most helpful when dealing with stress, etc (per Stamm)...if you want it.
Thank you TR for the reference, and yes, I'd love the other. Can you e-mail it?
BW, I am STILL waiting for my African Grey. I have read that people who have Senegals frequently also have Greys. Still waiting for mine to fall from the sky. Like I need more than four birds... HA! But yes, birds rock and DiDi they have TONS of personality. Birds are ultra social and get into very complicated relationships with people if they are treated like family. The talkers make it that much more interesting... Blondie? Too funny!
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