What happens within the simplicity of writing down ‘A to Z’? It resulted from a middle of the night common wake up event which meant ‘I need to calm and focus’ solution was required. You sit with a cup of tea and then actually find yourself struggling with writing down the simple alphabet. As you are writing A to B to C to D, etc. a number of considerations come in to play. Not just the act of writing down the symbols of rote learning from childhood. But the additional surroundings come in to play too. The pen choice, the lettering style, the spacing, the letter size, the font choices, the aroma of tea just made, the tactile nature of ink on paper, the monkey chatter brain invasions, wandering thoughts. Struggling for the next letter found me going back to repeating from the start of A to B to C…..to get the next letter implanted in my brain. 

I wondered if this little memory blip experience, or non experience in reality, could be attributed to my experience on working alongside patients to discover memory loss possibilities. The initial mini mental examination test. Looking for orientation (time/current location), recent memory (address/repeating three simple words at end of test), remote memory (date of birth), general knowledge (current monarch/prime minister) and attention (months backwards). 

Was it fair? Research of all individual questionnaire use was forever on my mind. Is the situation of an 80 year old person with long standing diabetes having high blood glucose readings the same as a younger recently diagnosed person with diabetes? Many more outside considerations come into play actually. Not just medication analysis. But lifestyle and attitude too. Not many generic forms are suitable for age range. Health and well being are both conceptual and multi-dimensional. I learnt that little nugget when studying Chronic Disease Management for three years.  

Ann Bowling was an oft sourced writer regarding ‘reviewing the efficacy of measurement scales’. And there were very many questionnaire choices in nurse work. Concepts aplenty of inclusions from all areas holistic. Well being, social health, quality of life, frailty, fragility, coping mechanisms, motivation, attitude, single or co-morbidity disease impact, pertinent acute or chronic symptoms impact, etc. Generic forms of a multitude of questions in rote nature. Are we so pigeon holed as individuals that we are robotic in presentation? Attention, focus, timing, compatibility of one to one personalities, one’s own personality and current state of mind are huge factors in assumptions of memory. Currently it is 04.00 in the morning you may be awake because you have lots on your mind. Or. Your mind may be calm, but going off in tangents and chasing down interesting thoughts. Or. Stressful attributes are attached to the psyche from thinking about the day ahead and future challenges. Or. You simply welcome 04.00 because it is a regular opportunity for a quiet ‘me’ time. There’s more too. So many considerations come in to one simple window of time.

I stumbled 3 times over writing down the flow of A to Z letters as to what came next. Not exactly like finding them on a keyboard or typewriter. A to Z rote, yet stumble, nature. So much so that I thought about Sage. Yes. Sage. The herb. Popped into my mind half way through the alphabet. I recalled that it may assist memory loss. Because a simple germ of an idea wiggled it’s way in and whispered ‘Is this my memory tripping up?’ I went and found the first book at hand and began writing down it’s content regarding Sage. You see! One simple A to Z writing performance extrapolated into looking for reasons and answers. Why? If my hands were shaking when writing would I have looked into reasons for tremors? Simple answer was….because my mind is continuously active, looking for the next ‘thing’ and it’s often the reason for lack of applied continuity. In reality, I enjoyed the whole experience resulting from this window in time. 

Please tap on images to enlarge

In the end. That’s all that matters really.