Tx-Pup Preschoolers
+ some Rx rest for a wounded people-paw
Greetings and ahh, those seasonal signs of glorious fall: Pumpkin spice, a nip in the air… triceps tendonitis.
In less clinical terms that Dx is a diagnosis of “writer’s-(and/or texter’s)-elbow.”
Yes, it’s a thing. The pain is like the tennis kind of repetitive-overuse injury, but at the triceps just above, rather than forearm just below, the bent elbow joint and only on the dominant/right side. Neither wrist carpal tunnel nor shoulder is involved.
And yes, it’s kind of a chuckle for any of us who know me in a mode of voracious reading-writing-scribbling-note-taking-texting-typing… rinse-and-repeat!
From both clinical and depth psychological standpoints today’s core themes might be a case example of the need to pay attention to the body’s symptoms and listen to and with them as an expression of the unconscious psyche and its energies.
A further note on clinical terms: As with the Dx for diagnosis, the Tx in the title is abbreviation for either therapy or treatment. Rx is of course, prescription. (And if you ever see Sx, it means surgery, not sex.)
The wounded people-paw
The initial injury was probably an unnoticed overdo with weights during some recent week’s regular moderate strength training classes. A sports injury is certainly more dignified and rational than unconsciously injuring oneself just by gripping colorful pens, wiggling thumbs and pounding keyboards too hard, too long — and sometimes even too loud! I recall a grad school classmate politely asking me to either take handwritten notes or move my noisy-newsroom typing across the room from her.
In weight class just lightening-up on the right side has been a simple, also at first-unnoticed fix. Running is fortunately unfazed, for the open arm movements actually help. (Though I’d have noticed and maybe remedied a problem there sooner.) Even heavier garden pruning and digging are fine.
The problem is only when the elbow is bent for too long or with too much pressure. Healing the inflammation requires limiting or trading-off tasks like long dicing for salads and cooking (which I certainly don’t mind!)
I do mind that it also means more conscious pacing and easing-up on all movement tasks involved in writing, texting, note-taking, journaling — and newShrink. So in coming weeks you’ll see more single-topic features, shorter column- to essay-length pieces still along newShrink core themes. Some more meal-sized multiple-topic magazine-length pieces will re-enter the mix eventually.
That’s the clinical part. As for that depth psychology “case example” mentioned above, here I’ll note only that this is exactly the kind of overuse/overdo that occurs in one dominant/most conscious area of our functioning. It results in unconscious shadow neglect in another (here, the physical body in space). This injury is completely consistent with how I’m wired temperamentally to operate automatically, by default, unconsciously.
Hugely simplified: This wounded-overused paw illustrates the shadow-excesses that result when one’s “best” functions run amok! It’s at the expense of the less developed or least conscious sides of us. In this sense the injury’s a welcome, blessedly gentle nudge from the psyche that this Libra’s balances were out of whack and need tweaking.
That’s the Rx. For the Tx, first pup first…
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Here’s Lily Clarinet.
Last week I got to spend precious in-person time with dear friend-reader Allison Miley and her beautiful, fast-growing and amazingly smart future therapy-pup. This work, and Lily Clarinet’s name, honor the memory and cherished causes of Allison and Rob’s daughter Claire.
Now five months old, Lily C is completing puppy citizenship school before beginning their graduate studies. They hope to work in a healing or learning setting with children. You may recall reading Claire’s story in previous editions and meeting Lily C (aka Miz Lils, Lily Sea) in the “In the Service of Healing” piece in the 7.3.22 edition of newShrink.
The second therapy-pup story is a completely unrelated one I shared with Allison.
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Before describing the story and photo below I should note that Allison and family are among the most rabid and vocal Tar Heels among my loved ones and friends who are my fellow UNC alums and fans.
Duke University’s Canine Cognition Center
Dog lovers wanted: Duke’s Puppy Kindergarten seeks volunteers to boost service dogs (News & Observer of Raleigh)
Maestro spends his days like most other kindergartners: playing outside with his friends, taking afternoon naps, enjoying classroom snacks and learning to share his toys with his classmates. It’s a simple life for this 11-week-old golden retriever-lab mix at the Duke Puppy Kindergarten. Part of the university’s Canine Cognition Center, a research program that studies dogs’ mental capabilities, the kindergarten helps prepare pups to be service dogs for people with disabilities.
Even to Allison Miley, this story is one more thing to like about Duke. (The only other being those so-misguided, yet much-loved, souls who happen to be Dukies…)
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And, that is all I have! Talk to you next week.
🦋💙 tish
… it is important that awake people be awake,
or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep;
the signals we give — yes or no, or maybe —
should be clear: the darkness around us is deep.
— William Stafford, “A Ritual to Read to Each Other”