HOW I SEE THE
ZEN HOSPICE VOLUNTEERS at
LAGUNA HONDA HOSPITAL
by PAUL H.
RESIDENT
LAGUNA HONDA HOSPITAL
---Then Geoff said about 4 or 5 paragraphs! Still, I heard myself answer, ''Yes! That should be no problem.'' I think that the gift of naivete may be my greatest gift. At least I have that going for me. And...NOT to be taken lightly is the Zen Volunteers ability to understand and forgive. Above and beyond everything...we have honesty. I've noticed that The Zen Volunteers and myself do aspire to honesty.
---I have been involved with Laguna Honda Hospital since June 20, 2002. Until then, I had barely heard the name and knew nothing at all about it. I had a stroke on June 2, 2002 and had been in SFGH for about three weeks. Now I was at Laguna Honda Hospital for Rehabilitation.
---I'm going to rewind a bit here. I had had a life changing realization in October of 1976. I very viably realized that ''Life and Living Is All About Love.'' I heard those words before from my Catholic upbringing...but, this night I heard everything, differently. The nutshell version is that I went from ACCEPTING that statement to be true, with every bit of blind faith imaginable, to UNDERSTANDING in October of 1976 what that may, actually, mean. It went from just ACCEPTING to NOW, ALSO, UNDERSTANDING what LOVE (to an extent) IS. The word APPRECIATION (of existence) was NOW a brand new animal.
---To backpedal a bit further...my birth in 1951, left me missing four fingers on my left-hand. I was, also, born with a heart murmur that would, probably, need an operation by age five. Long-story-short,
I didn't get the operation, but was psychologically imprisoned by my hand. Long-Story-Short...again, I learned that self-acceptance was in fact the life changer I received in 1976 and how self-acceptance makes a huge difference in one's life. The more one is in denial, the greater the revelation needed to get back to the zero point. I went through many, many situations to get to where I am today. I see self-acceptance to be much akin to Christ's death on the cross, Buddha's enlightenment, rebirth, attaining Krishna consciousness and/or the change that most religions speak of. It is the going from a selfish (unresurrected) to a more selfless (resurrected) self.
---To me....the Zen Volunteers provide what I see as one of the most necessary 'cogs in the wheel' at Laguna Honda. They seem to be one of the much needed psychological reset buttons (to life and living) we have for the residents. I was president of the Residents' Council from 2004 - 08. I went to many staff meetings. My recommendation, before I knew anything about the Zen Hospice Project at LHH, described a big part of what the Zen Volunteers do. Because of their friendships with the residents, the Zen Volunteers are great sounding boards...helping those residents who need it (which includes almost everyone) to see life more realistically and to get back to the zero point in their lives. Through this friendship they are able to help some of the residents who partake in the presence of the volunteers, be more accepting of their plight and why they are residents at LHH in the first place.
---On a very necessary level, the Zen Volunteers are a bunch of astute individuals ...with their feet planted firmly on the ground who sit and talk with the patients at the hospital. Their basic motto seems to be to listen to the resident and provide what is within their abilities to provide as to what they find necessary to provide that enhances the life of the resident. Most often it's a much needed friendship in the patients hour of need. In some cases they bring a certain order to a much chaotic viewpoint that some of residents have. I, personally, wish the project was hospital-wide as most of the patients at LHH could/would benefit from their interaction. I consider myself to be very fortunate to have a friendship of sorts with many of the Zen Volunteers who come to Laguna Honda Hospital. Be Well.
