![]() Recently, while participating in a Catholic studies seminar at Seton Hall University, titled “Divine Madness and the Intellectual Life: Exercises in Appreciation,” I began to reflect on birth and death-two very diverse yet somehow similar life-altering experiences. Although giving birth in modern times is rarely considered a life-threatening illness, I believe that for some women the experience of giving birth can also provide an opportunity for self-transcendence. Reed (1991) defines self-transcendence as the experience of extending self-boundaries inwardly, outwardly, and temporally to take on broader life perspectives, activities, and purposes. ![]() Coward (1990, 1991) and Tylor (1983) report that, in some women, the experience of a life-threatening illness leads to self-transcendence and greater emotional well-being. I have noticed that many women faced with a diagnosis of breast cancer develop a greater appreciation for life. Women with this potentially life-threatening illness are often forced to confront their own mortality. When each of my three daughters was born years later, I understood how the awesome act of giving birth can have a profound effect on a woman's life.Īlthough working with childbearing women has remained my passion over the years, more recently my professional practice has evolved to helping women deal with the events associated with the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. What inspired me was how this unmedicated woman could integrate the power of birthing energy with the strength of her own being and accept the sacred work of creation. As I look back on that experience, I realize that it was more than just witnessing the miracle of a new life beginning. I only knew that I had been moved beyond all reason and that there was no other specialty in nursing for me. Seeing a woman give birth brought up emotions for which I had no words, back then. I was drawn to this area of nursing partly by the awe I experienced when, during my student days, I first witnessed a birth. I began my professional career as a nurse working in labor and delivery. As I reflect on the journey that my life's work has taken me, I am struck by a powerful link between giving birth, facing death, and awakening spirituality. These words, taken from a prayer read during the High Holy Day services at my synagogue, have special meaning for me.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |