Four Years Since Bill Created His Tree of Awakening Your Positivity
4-years ago, Bill Yeates created his Tree of Awakening Your Positivity. Today he reflects on his journey.
"As we approach Sunday, the 14th of April 2024, I find myself reflecting on a significant milestone in my journey with dementia. Exactly four years ago, I developed a comprehensive holistic approach to the way that I wanted to manage my diagnosis in the years to come. This approach, which I refer to as “My Tree of Awakening Your Positivity” was inspired by a small sapling trying to grow on a rock face at the back of my garden. Despite facing many challenges, it has continued to thrive over the past four years.
From my perspective, I understood that Alzheimer's was more than just a cognitive decline as it destroyed my concept of self. It is for this reason that my tree consists of four branches which represent body, mind, heart and soul. Attached to each of these parts are ‘leaves of positivity’, which reflect those strategies, actions and interventions that have helped me rebuild and rediscover myself.
Whenever I felt the challenges were becoming too difficult, and thoughts of giving up crept in, I was reminded of the advice that a past student, Alison, had given me, “just keep swimming”. For me and many others I’ve met along the way, like Marie Alford, we have all adopted this phrase as our motto. On another level, Patrick Wilsmore, who has gone from a victim to being a survivor, strongly understands the true meaning of ‘just keep swimming’.
To celebrate this milestone and to highlight the importance of ‘just keep swimming’, Kay Hughes and Jon Leslie have composed a song called Work of Art, which asks listeners to think about how they may respond if dementia comes to them, and invites us to see ourselves as works of art, whether or not we experience dementia. You can listen to their song here.
Dementia Connections (Canada) - Social Media Post 14th April 2024
Alzheimer's & Dementia Weekly welcomes 'Work of Art'
With a new post on Alzheimer’s or dementia appearing on the internet every 7 minutes, Alzheimer's & Dementia Weekly focuses on the best available information & resources, including our new song, “Work of Art” (inspired by Bill Yeates, and his Tree of Awakening Your Positivity).
