A Semi-Serious Post about Something Near & Dear to my Heart

Hi all!  So I’ve totally got a celeb crush on Ed Sheeran.  And after recently hearing one of his latest songs, “Love Afire,” I fell even more in love with his music!  If you haven't heard this song already, I would definitely recommend that you check it out!

As some of you may know, I used to work as an art therapist with patients who have dementia.  As an art therapist, I used art-making activities and prompts to help patients with dementia work through issues by giving them opportunities to express themselves creatively.  Creative and non-verbal expression is really important for people with dementia because many of them lose the ability to show their emotions through words.  Getting to work with this population was such an honor, and some of the artwork that these residents were capable of creating was simply amazing.  I wish I could show you all some of their work if not for confidentiality rules.  But the Alzheimer’s Association has a wonderful program called Memories in Making which highlights the importance and value of art-making among dementia populations.  You can see some of the artwork made by the Southeastern Milwaukee chapter of Memories in the Making here. 

I consider myself somewhat of an advocate for this population, as they are oftentimes forgotten about or are seen as not being real people who lived full and unique lives.  So I was so happy to hear such a touching song that highlights the beauty and richness of life that those with dementia lived, especially prior to having the disease. 

I’m sure most of you know someone affected with Alzheimer’s or a similar disease.  And I think it’s really time that we as a culture started to care and to do something about trying to end this disease.  The Alzheimer’s Association is really an amazing foundation that has many opportunities to get involved with this cause through donating, participating in walks, and more.  Please consider just checking out their website to do what you can to help the cause or to simply become more educated about dementia.

Thank you for taking the time to read about such a heavy topic.  It is something that is very near and dear to my heart, so I wanted to take a moment to share that with all of you.

Thanks for listening!
Jennifer