Compassion Fatigue Solutions

Not by my own choosing, mind you, but my computer crashed last weekend. It was kaput, finito, dead as a doornail. Apparently the hard drive was damaged and "could have gone at any moment" said the repair person. The good news is that I have been pretty good about backing up my files (not perfect, though and not unlike a break-in, it's only weeks later that you think "where's that thing? I haven't seen it in ages" only to realise it was part of what went missing.) But I'm in pretty good shape, all things considered.

So, for those of you who are lackadaisical about backing up your files, a word to the wise. My computer savvy hubby says we should all back up our computers every single night at the end of a day's work. He also recommends using gmail as an email server, as it will store both received and sent mail from your computer and you will never again lose your sent mails (which is a big issue for me as it is where I do the bulk of my work). I am sure some things will fall through the cracks though, so if you emailed me recently and have not heard back from you, can you write again? Thanks and sorry in advance.

Last week was rather training-intense, with two half day sessions with oncology and palliative care staff in Montreal, and three days with York Region's community and health services. I had a lot of fun. I enjoy meeting new people and hearing about the work that they do, with its challenges and rewards and pitfalls along the way. I particularly appreciated the training space at York Region's Newmarket site. When you do a lot of training, you become pretty attuned to group dynamics and the impact that a training space has on people who are, after all, kind of trapped together for a whole day. This space had a ton of natural light (big windows), high ceilings, carpet on the floor (good acoustics), comfortable chairs and enough space to move around. It really makes a difference to the whole experience. Thank you to Nancy Hogue for driving me all over the GTA and not laughing at my geographical dismay!

Now I am back in quiet little Kingston where driving my boys to the football game took approximately 1.5 minute (go gaels go) and getting front row seats to the santa claus parade meant arriving 5 minutes early and sitting in a local restaurant with front row (warm) seats for the show. I cannot say enough about the quality of life offered by living in a small community.

On the menu this week: The two day Compassion Fatigue Train the Trainer workshop (if you are interested in attending this training down the road, please visit my website and also note that there are only 20 seats per session and that this course fills up very quickly) I will not be offering a June session this year as I cannot get the training space that I want, so after the March session, I will likely not be offering this course again until the Fall. I am then going to Elizabeth Bruyere in Ottawa for a palliative care conference.

Have a great week, don't forget to tell your computer that you love it, and after giving it a big wet kiss, back it up right away.