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Read the full transcript here

Intro:

As 2021 comes to a close, Dr. Saperstein takes some time to think about the past year and offers some space to reflect upon it. At the same time, she guides you in how to start preparing for the upcoming year! Be sure to catch up on episodes you have missed, and please share the All About Audiology podcast with those whom you think will benefit from it. Also, be sure to join Dr. Saperstein for her next Hear Retreat, which is starting on January 17. You can get more information about that at AllAboutAudiology.com/retreat.

For more resources and research visit:

All About Audiology Website 

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https://www.patreon.com/join/allaboutaudiology

Mentioned in this episode:

Connect and Advocate Membership Group

Next time on All About Audiology:

All About Late-Onset/Late-Identified Hearing Loss — Episode 80 with Valerie James Abbott and Justin Osmond

Transcript:

Dr. Lilach Saperstein:

Welcome back to the All About Audiology podcast. I’m your host, Dr. Lilach Saperstein. And this show is all about audiology, but it’s really all about you and finding the strength to get really clear on what your intentions are, what you want for yourself, for your child, for their journey with audiology. And I want to start today’s episode with a little story. I was at the beach the other day. It’s winter here in Israel as well, but it’s like 60 degrees Fahrenheit. [It] doesn’t get that cold. And so I was still walking on the beach, walking on the boardwalk. And I see some people in bathing suits, going in the water. And [I was] thinking to myself, it’s way too cold for that. How are they enjoying this experience of going into the ocean, at the beach in their bathing suits in the middle of December?? So I got close to the water. I put my hands in it, and I felt it and it was cold. I would not want to be swimming in that water. But once I kind of felt the water lapping up my wrist and on my fingers, I did start to have a sense of: this is actually really refreshing, this is really rejuvenating, there’s something delightful about this water, at this point in time. Where[as] I never would have even wanted to approach the ocean, the beach if I hadn’t seen those other people enjoying themselves. So it brought to mind a lot of things. I’m sure that brings to mind some things for you. And in fact, I’m not going to tell you anymore than that. Because I’m wondering how whatever that little encounter that I had there with the water meant to you or applies to you. What do you take away from that? 

I always sort of get reflective at the beach. It’s a really special place for me. And we have this nice kind of 20 minute boardwalk or so, 20 minute walk. So I try to do that at least once a week. I am very grateful to my friends who come and take me, and they’re like ‘we’re going to the beach, you’re coming now.’ Get some of those friends in your life that say to you, ‘we’re going on a hike’, ‘we’re going to the store,’ ‘I’m coming over and we’re making a cup of coffee.’ I’m just so grateful this year for the friends who have done that particular kind of outreach. It’s been a really rough year for many of us. I am there with you. And at the same time there are those moments. Those sections of connection and strength that we can find, that we have found, which for me have really been meaningful. And so when someone does that for me, I realize the value of it and then I think how do I do that? In what ways can I do that for others? And it starts right here and starts for myself. How do I take care of myself going into the new year? 

And one of the things I’m not doing this year. Catch this everyone, no resolutions from me! I am focusing a lot on what my intentions are, what my desires are for each day, for the presence. Not so much focused on far off goals. But how do I want to feel? How do I want to show up to the breakfast table? How do I want to be here around bedtime with my kids? And how do I want to show up for you guys in the podcast and in the Connect and Advocate Membership Group. These are the bigger questions that I’m asking. It’s a different reframe, rather than what do I want to achieve and accomplish and amass and collect and consume, which are all things that are still on my mind. But I’m taking the focus into a new level for myself. [Such as} How do I want my home to feel? And actually recently I did a bit of redecoration in my bedroom. And I painted this delightful deep, almost brown, almost orange in some lights, [at times]  it looks yellow. It has tons of dimension. And when I showed this to a friend that this was the color I chose for my bedroom she was like ‘no you don’t do yellow or orange in a bedroom, you need a calming color, like a light blue, or a deep purple, or gray. You need something that’s gonna calm you down and bring you into restful mode. And I kind of said to her, ‘actually I really need the color that’s gonna get me out of bed, not a color that’s gonna make me get into bed because I’m very good at that and sleeping for many hours.’ And feeling that some of the goals and things that I want to accomplish are so big with so many tasks, how do I even approach them? Sometimes I get into that mode and that’s been a little bit of the recent experience that I’ve been noticing – I would like to create a space and create certain habits, certain daily routines that are not because I’m punishing myself for my bad behavior, or like saying ‘you have to get out of bed you have so many things to do get on with it,’  but actually coming from a completely different perspective of trying to support myself and support the work that I want to do from me to feel good in it. 

And [in terms of] looking at the amazing retreat that’s coming in January. I just hope that you will join and you’ll feel that this is a place that’s safe and connected where we can really come and talk about the issues and the challenges and the fears that you have as a parent or family member of a deaf or HoH child. And the specific things that you’re coming up against. I understand those things. I’ve been working with families on that for a long time. And from a personal place, I also am a mom. And I would love to work with you and be on that team with you. 

So I would love to take a moment for us to celebrate what beautiful changes you have managed to make in 2021. And again not numbers. There’s all these numbers, like this quantification of how much money did you make or how much debt did you pay off? Or how many customers did you have? How many steps did you take? How many times were you at the gym, How many hours a day does your child wear their devices? What’s their speech recognition score? There’s all these numbers in our lives. Don’t even get me started on that number that we think about all the time – which is the scale, and our weight, as if there’s some important number that’s the only right number! There’s so much that goes into every aspect of our lives, that comes into it with the quantification and trying to put ourselves into these boxes of production, and we have to make more, and we have to do more and we have to accomplish more. I would like to take a moment to challenge that right here at the eve of the new year. I’m wrapping up 2021 with all of its challenges.  What are the things that you have carved your intention into? 

So think about what are the ways in which you felt really connected? Who did you feel very connected to this year? You know if that is a friend, family member, perhaps your partner, your spouse, your child, think about which relationships you cultivated this year? Which relationships you had the pleasure of being involved in this other person’s life and them in yours. That is a completely different question isn’t it? To think of the values of what you really want for your life. And then as a follow up question, you might think about what are the items that have brought me to have more intention and more joy in my life? And for me, one of those little things is the painting of my wall. I open my eyes into a different mood. Something that is brightening me up. It’s kind of a warm yellow, it’s a little bit orange, right? And so maybe it’s something you’ve done in your