Tuesday, December 31, 2013

The Small Print


Finding out you are a zebra isn't really as shocking as it might sound, even though it's not something that gradually happens.  It's one of those things that happens basically overnight.  Seriously.  I went to bed one night and I wasn't a zebra.  I woke up the next day and I still wasn't a zebra, but by the time I went to bed that night guess what? Yep. Zebra extraordinaire.  Okay. I'll explain.... actually, I'll let Wikipedia explain.  They do an excellent job:
Zebra is the medical slang for arriving at an exotic medical diagnosis when a more commonplace explanation is more likely.[1] It is shorthand for the aphorism coined in the late 1940s by Dr. Theodore Woodward, professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who instructed his medical interns: "When you hear hoofbeats, think of horses not zebras".[2] Since horses are common in Maryland while zebras are relatively rare, logically one could confidently guess that an animal making hoofbeats is probably a horse. By 1960, the aphorism was widely known in medical circles.

My doctor, explained this to me on the day that he discovered that I didn't have terminal cancer after all... (yeah, I was diagnosed and even given an expected expiration date.  Well.. not an exact date, but the actual wording was: "less than six months",  aaaaand that story isn't really all that relevant here except that I got the horse label, rather than the zebra label initially) And since that day I have discovered that those of us who are lucky enough (yep, I said it! I'm so very lucky!) to realize we are zebras have found a kinship/brotherhood/sisterhood/ because of it.  A great many of us are proud of our zebra status because we know that by the time we were zebras we had all been changed mentally, physically, and emotionally by whatever diagnosis we got before the one that turned us into zebras.  I, for one, am a completely different person from my own journey. I know many others who will readily agree

Maybe you have heard the saying: " What doesn't kill us makes us stronger".  I am here to tell you that for me, that is absolute truth.  And in the process of "getting stronger" I have learned to look at life and all it holds in a completely different light.  I have seen things more clearly than I ever thought possible, I have figured out the meaning of things that weren't important enough to give a second thought to before, but now mean more to me and my happiness than I could have imagined.
None of this rambling means that I know the meaning of life, nor do I have knowledge that will keep me from avoiding death and taxes (the only two unavoidable things in life near as I can tell lol) I won't stay young forever, nor do I have the secrets to wealth and fortune.  I just have had the rare experience of being told I had less than six months to live, of looking death square in the face and coming to terms with it on my own, of sitting down with a "Five Wishes" booklet in front of me completing the answers to questions that will dictate the way the last days and hours of my life should play out, and then of hearing the words "It's not cancer, and if you die in the next six months THIS probably isn't going to be to blame.  But every one of those things I just listed have already completely changed my life in profound ways.  All of this, in my far from humble opinion, has given me the opportunity to share "the way I see life" with people who's stories coincide with mine, or people who ask me how I can find hope in a hopeless situation, and people who wonder how I can see so many blessings through it all.  Life has given me a unique perspective, and a desire to share it whenever I can.  In the eye of my slightly over inflated ego I've got a unique psychology to share.
And because I like to name things... (& people, & places, give nicknames... you name it) I call it Zebra Psychology.



So there it is.  Zebra Psychology defined.  Yes, you should assume that this blog will be silly and whimsical.  And sometimes it will be serious and sad, and ticked off and real.   I write for many reasons, but possibly the most important is to analyze and deal with  the people, places and things in my world as I experience them, and just as often to help those same folks understand me a little better also.   I'm not sure why I feel I need to explain this blog's existence, but if you are here reading it's likely that while it's brand new I have invited you to do so, and it is my hope that it somehow speaks to you, blesses you, entertains you, or helps you know who I am. And if it makes you laugh, or scratch your head and wonder what the heck I'm laughing at, trying to say or complaining about,  well that's even better.  

This is the small print of Zebra Psychology.   Welcome to my heart, poured out for your reading pleasure. I Thank you from the top to the bottom of my crazy, nerdy, not right zebra striped heart!
Thanks for stopping by! :) 




6 comments:

  1. OH MY GOODNESSSSS SHARON~ I LOVE the silly, uncanny, ironic, iconic, (and yes, even PSYCHOTIC and NEUROTIC) way our "stripes" collide, both in life and in story!! I consider it one of the richest blessings of my life that your "out of zebra experience" somehow collided with mine, while we were both walking through the jungle of grief. Wondering how on EARTH either of us would make it through our respective life-altering, life-enriching experiences through grief. And JOY... and WORDS... and PICTURES!!

    Oh dear, I could go on ALL DAY about how parallel our lives have become since those life-challenging, heart stretching days 3 years ago, but the truth is... we truly ARE KINDRED HEART CHAMBERS of LIFE! Breathing inspiration and contemplation to each other's thoughts and stories! I just shake my head when I read your words, immediately after I've posted mine. I'm scratching my head, pondering our Zebra Psychology and Monsieur Rico~Suave candid camera analogies... wondering where they will take us next!

    This I know for sure... God has brought us both this far so He could do "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." Ephesians 3:20.

    I have been dubbed the official ZEBRA PSYCHOLOGY BLOG HEAD CHEERLEADER from this day forward!

    Now...if I only knew the unabridged answer to the age-old question:
    Are zebras white with black stripes, or black with white stripes?

    Let's find out together! Love ya!!

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  2. WHEW!!! <----- sigh of relief! I just realized I'd been holding my breath!!! I'm not normally one who feels that i need to have approval for what I write, but for whatever reason this first blog NEEDED your stamp on it. I still don't know why. It doesn't matter, what matters is that it's a sign of really, really good things when I'm willing to let my guard down and die to that need. I'm strong. YOU are amazing, and honestly? I think it's getting so fun to see what "co-Inkydink will be in store for us today?! You have been such a fabulous cheerleader, and I want you to know that the things we have in common aren't the only reasons why I've fallen in love with this bond we've forged. As much as we are the same, we are also very different too, and we balance each other out somehow. I find it fascinating and humbling, and fun and bewildering and I just wanted to say Thank you, and I love you! xoxo

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  3. Yesterday, a child came out to wander
    Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
    Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
    And tearful at the falling of a star

    And the seasons they go 'round and 'round
    And the painted ponies go up and down
    We're captive on the carousel of time
    We can't return we can only look behind
    From where we came
    And go round and round and round
    In the circle game

    Then, the child moved ten times 'round the seasons
    Skated over ten clear frozen streams
    Words like, "When you're older", must appease him
    And promises of someday make his dreams

    And the seasons they go 'round and 'round
    And the painted ponies go up and down
    We're captive on the carousel of time
    We can't return we can only look behind
    From where we came,
    And go round and round and round
    In the circle game

    Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now
    Cartwheels turn to car wheels through the town
    And they tell him, "Take your time. It won't be long now.
    'Til your drag your feet to slow the circles down"

    And the seasons they go 'round and 'round
    And the painted ponies go up and down
    We're captive on the carousel of time
    We can't return we can only look behind
    From where we came
    And go round and round and round
    In the circle game

    So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty
    Though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true
    There'll be new dreams, maybe better dreams and plenty
    Before the last revolving year is through.

    And the seasons they go 'round and 'round
    And the painted ponies go up and down
    We're captive on the carousel of time
    We can't return, we can only look behind
    From where we came
    And go round and 'round and 'round
    In the circle game
    And go 'round and 'round and 'round in the circle game.
    Joni Mitchell

    Thinking of you, my dear and wishing you well ALWAYS.

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  4. BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN, MICHAEL!
    *any friend of the Zebra-Whisperer is a friend of mine!
    Especially when you write so fine! ;)

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  5. Michael how is it that you always know just the most beautiful, perfect thing to share? Never mind.. I know... it's part of the gift of you.


    That's a soul soothing song... no surprise it's from a soul soothing friend <3 Sure do love you!

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  6. Pssst.... I keep coming back to see more! Just in case you wondered if I've been back! *wink*wink*
    PLEASE WRITE SOON!
    Love ya!

    ReplyDelete