Beginning on September 16, is MitoAwareness week, so I wanted to share a little of our story, our Mito story:
Mitochondrial disease is a disease that affects children and adults of all ages, races, and gender. More common than cystic fibrosis, mitochondrial disease is characterized by a defect in the body's ability to make energy, and causes symptoms that range from moderate to severe. Like running the body on a "low battery", mitochondrial disease affects a person's entire body and can change moment to moment, day to day. There is no cure.
This is our Mito: Symptoms range from severe mental retardation, autism, heart problems requiring full time pacemaker, unstable blood pressure, weakness, fatigue, migraines and strokes, just to name a few.
Giving back is also a huge part of our family's life, so in keeping with our tradition, 10% of the proceeds of each piece of jewelry sold from Prajna Jewelry Design will be donated to MitoAction, a vital organization, near and dear to our hearts. www.mitoaction.org . Please help us spread the word about what Mitochondrial disease. Mito Awareness week runs September 16 -22, 2012 please help spread the word
Years ago I heard these 3 simple words, Turn the Prism. A professor said them to our group when I was a student nurse. She was encouraging us to change the way we looked at the people we were caring for and the way we perceived situations in our own life. Those words have stuck with me all these years and really define the way I have dealt with the ups and downs of life. The saying, When life gives lemons; make lemonade, never rang true for our family. Lemonade implied something sweet and refreshing. Living with a life-threatening disease was not so easily turned into something invigorating. It was something that we have learned to manage, find meaning in and grow from but lemonade sounded too trite to give us comfort.
Turning the Prism on my own life was a whole lot tougher than helping my children or my family. In 2001 it became imperative to see my life from a new vantage point when I felt the first serious symptoms of mitochondrial disease within myself. This disease had touched not only my two children, but my mother, my sister and her daughter as well. So I knew the possibility for me to "crash" was a very real threat. I was to busy to let it consume my thoughts and pushed forward running here, there and everywhere. Looking back I see that running all the time, never left me with enough time for "thinking". It was my coping strategy, and it failed miserably. That is when jewelry making came into my life.
A friend said, hey do you want to help me out and design some bracelets for my fledgling company, I'll pay you"? The idea of doing something with my hands, at home that could bring in some extra cash certainly peaked my interest. I agreed and soon found myself surrounded by thousands of glass beads in every possible array of color, shape and texture. It occurred to me one day that this combining and stringing of beads was rather meditative and therapeutic. Thoughts about my life, my children, mitochondrial disease and my larger family would float into my "therapy session" like a gentle tap on the shoulder, getting me to pay attention but in a much more gentle way. It helped me to "accept" this new path I found myself on.
I find it completely ironic, that our family creed, "Turn the Prism" has crossed the line from the figurative to the literal. I began to make a necklace or two for myself, that were happily purchased right off my neck! From that a rainbow of possibilities began to swirl in my head. I voraciously taught myself all I could about the world of jewelry making, took a class, bought out Barnes and Noble section of jewelry making and found multiple internet resources. I was beginning to see a life beyond being an ICU nurse; a life where my artistic creativity was rekindled, bringing with it an unexpected satisfaction. This is the place where Prajna Jewelry Design was born, within the light shined upon a new perspective on my life. Prajna means wisdom or knowledge gained from insight and deep meditation, so it seemed fitting to name our jewelry company.
Mitochondrial disease is a disease that affects children and adults of all ages, races, and gender. More common than cystic fibrosis, mitochondrial disease is characterized by a defect in the body's ability to make energy, and causes symptoms that range from moderate to severe. Like running the body on a "low battery", mitochondrial disease affects a person's entire body and can change moment to moment, day to day. There is no cure.
This is our Mito: Symptoms range from severe mental retardation, autism, heart problems requiring full time pacemaker, unstable blood pressure, weakness, fatigue, migraines and strokes, just to name a few.
Giving back is also a huge part of our family's life, so in keeping with our tradition, 10% of the proceeds of each piece of jewelry sold from Prajna Jewelry Design will be donated to MitoAction, a vital organization, near and dear to our hearts. www.mitoaction.org . Please help us spread the word about what Mitochondrial disease. Mito Awareness week runs September 16 -22, 2012 please help spread the word
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