The View and Nurse Storytellers…

I don’t want to be one of those people who makes “mountains out of molehills” or anything like that but the other night I was laying in bed thinking about this whole “The View” thing and what they said about Miss Colorado and her monologue about being a nurse.  First and foremost, yes, they insulted the profession of nursing.  And I have to tell y’all right now that I my hat is off to them ALL (well, except for maybe this one no-so-great one I had right after Ben was born, that was also complaining about pain in her foot and doing NOTHING about MY pain at the time…)  Otherwise, every nurse I’ve had besides the parentheses one have been really amazing people.  And there may be a couple I do not remember because A)anesthesia and B)strong narcotics.

Anyway, back to the mountains/molehills thing.  I also felt like they kind of insulted storytellers. Which I consider myself ones of those, you know, with the whole Listen To Your Mother thing and all.  And the fact that I also like to tell them to my friends and family constantly and I have probably re-told many stories to my friends and family.  Oh and write them here and other places online and in some books so… yeah…

See, I think stories are what bind us.  Actually, I know that to be true. They have for generations. And when I listened to Miss Colorado’s story about the man with Alzheimers that she helped while being a nurse, I felt connected to her, even though I did not know her.  I thought “wow, if anyone I ever loved had Alzheimers I would want her as their nurse.” I also believe it is a “talent” to stand up on stage and tell a story without anything in front of you.  I mean, how nerve-wracking, right? That takes a ton of courage and for some, practice.  I’ve told my story about motherhood twice on stage and both times I’ve had the words right in front of me and that was enough to still have me kinda shakin’ in my boots! (although I was wearing heels…)

I’m not sure why those ladies picked on Miss Colorado.  I have absolutely NO IDEA why anything she did was up for criticism of their kind.  I have to say, their “view” is not aligned with mine at all.  But I also have not watched that show in YEARS.  I think the young lady on stage had a really positive, heartfelt message and they squashed it by wondering why she was up their talking about her life’s work (which to me is WAY more important than theirs. IMHO…) and wearing a stethoscope that she probably uses MANY times every day she is at the hospital.

They tried to apologize after there was a TON of backlash (and rightly so) from the nursing community and people in general because really, WHO INSULTS NURSES?  But in a way I wished they’d also said she IS talented for standing up there and talking about her patient Joe and commended her for telling her story about not being “just a nurse.”  Am I being too sensitive about my own “thing” that I love to do? Perhaps… but I don’t care, I needed to say this…

Don’t be afraid to tell your story.  On paper, to your friends, to your mom or dad, online, or even on stage.  Your story is YOURS and it’s worth telling, every time.