by Emily van der Kamp, Occupational Therapist –
What is it that gives life meaning? An age old question. Many people find meaning in giving back to others, whether through developing knowledge, creating art or being there for friends and family. As an occupational therapist, I spend a fair bit of time thinking about what gives meaning to people’s lives and how that plays out in everyday life.
Life is marked by time, and the way we spend our time matters a lot when thinking about bringing meaning to life. The things that occupy us throughout the day, the way our time is spent, and how much capacity we have for giving back to others depends a lot on our state of health. So what is health, how do we care for it, and how does it relate to giving back to others?
When talking about health care the image that comes immediately to mind might be a doctor’s office or a hospital, perhaps pill bottles and medical procedures. However, if instead we think of health care as being an important part of everyone’s everyday life, something we can work on daily, it gives us power to improve our own health and the health of those around us. To me, caring for health should happen in our kitchens and communities as much as in our clinics and hospitals.
Occupational therapy takes a wholistic view of health, taking into consideration life history, interests, goals and present condition, as well as the environments people exist within. Health isn’t just about individuals: people do not exist in isolation and the choices an individual makes daily from what food to eat to what words to say can have a big impact on health: our own, our friends’, and our communities’ health.
I am a firm believer in the value of caring for one’s own health in order to build the vitality, the energy, to be there for others. It is much simpler to save someone else from drowning if you are standing on firm ground yourself than if you are right there in the river with them. The trick is to find the balance between spending time caring for oneself and caring for others.
From an occupational therapy perspective, at the core of health care is always the question: what is important to this person? What brings meaning to their life? Meaning can be woven into many small choices made throughout the day such as what clothes to wear or where to sit. These small choices are especially valuable at times when a person does not have a lot of power over their own life.
One of the most generous gifts a person can give to another person is power; power is energy over time, giving away power means giving away the choice about how time and energy are spent. It also means making yourself vulnerable; giving away the choice of how your time is spent and acknowledging that we are all human beings moving through time. That vulnerability in power sharing is why it is so valuable to look after yourself in order to be there for others. Find or build your firm ground by pursuing the things that bring meaning to your life, so that you can reach out to the drowning person, help bring meaning to their life, without falling into the water yourself.
