Lost and Found
One Woman's Story About her Journey to Wellness
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“If I Had a Hammer” is a Peter, Paul and Mary favorite from the 1960s. Its message of love, peace, and understanding transcends the generations. Perhaps you remember the verses: “If I had a hammer, a bell to ring, a song to sing”. . . for me, the pen is my hammer, my bell, and my song. When I began thinking about writing this book, I entertained the idea of putting my manuscript into boxes, instead of having it bound. My reasoning is that we are all in boxes. It is imperative to examine our individual lives, to ask questions of ourselves. We have to know who we are, how we think and don’t think, in order to know where to begin, how to proceed to actually achieve our goals. Changing boxes is a lifelong pursuit. Knowing what to keep is also extremely valuable.But the complexities, and costs, of putting this book into boxes, have led me to choose a traditional binding.In compiling this book, I found it easy to relate stories about two contributing factors to my memory loss: damage to my nervous system resulting from an injury to my coccyx and central nervous system, and emotional traumas which caused chemical imbalances in my brain. But thinking about how to recreate the third major factor – the stresses of marriage and motherhood – left me feeling exhausted, confused, and desperately wanting someone to hold my hand, to say, “It’s okay, girl, there is no hurry. Rest. Calm down. Time doesn’t exist.”You can imagine my breath of joy when a few working dendrites and brain cells reminded me that I have those experiences captured in poetry and memoir.Blessed be.
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About the Book
Jemma Macera is a poet, author, and social activist living in Ithaca, New York. Her story reflects a first half of life with challenges that contributed to physical and emotional pain, and resulting symptoms of dementia in the second half of her life. Living in Ithaca provided her with ample alternative therapists and a supportive community that enabled her to find a healing path. Jemma attributes her high level of functionality to following the shaman’s journey to wellness through singing, dancing, and storytelling, as well as to the generosity of many friends and healers. Her journey to wellness is the result of trusting the superior wisdom of the body and the unconscious mind over a disabled brain. Jemma lives with her life partner Walter, in her family home, and continues to enjoy square dancing, music, and singing with friends.
About the Author
Jemma Macera is a poet, author, and social activist living in Ithaca, New York. Her story reflects a first half of life with challenges that contributed to physical and emotional pain, and resulting symptoms of dementia in the second half of her life. Living in Ithaca provided her with ample alternative therapists and a supportive community that enabled her to find a healing path. Jemma attributes her high level of functionality to following the shaman’s journey to wellness through singing, dancing, and storytelling, as well as to the generosity of many friends and healers. Her journey to wellness is the result of trusting the superior wisdom of the body and the unconscious mind over a disabled brain. Jemma lives with her life partner Walter, in her family home, and continues to enjoy square dancing, music, and singing with friends.