Tremors in the Universe: A Personal Journey of Discovery with Parkinson's Disease and Spirituality - Hardcover

Baittie, Robert Lyman

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 145252016X ISBN 13: 9781452520162

Publisher: Balboa Press, 2014

Synopsis

It’s funny how life has a way of changing people.

It definitely changed me.

I was tooling along day after day, set in my ways, looking at life like a racehorse wearing blinders, oblivious to seeing the world any other way than I knew how, because I ultimately had fashioned my vision of it. I fit myself with the glasses I wore, and I wrote the prescription for the lenses with my attitude, faith, and beliefs.

But I got lucky. Parkinson’s came along, slapped me upside the head, and knocked my spectacles off of my face. And luckier still, while my glasses were on the ground I inadvertently stepped on them and crushed them into a million pieces.

I was blind.

I was forced to extend my hands out in front of me to rediscover my world all over again. Taking baby steps with fear in my heart that I would bang my head into a wall. But you know what happened? A miraculous thing took place. My memory of where the important things in my life were took over, and what I valued and needed the most magically appeared for me.

Love, friendship, compassion, spirit and purpose. My appreciation for what was at my fingertips was heightened as well. I suddenly discovered a comforting realization that I could continue to succeed in life with less. Less envy, less anger, less anxiety, less fear of old age and death. It was liberating.

I was given Parkinson’s disease, and my life became better for it.
This book is not what most people have come to expect about Parkinson’s disease.

Tremors in the Universe offers another way. Another way of thinking. Another way of living.

About this title

From the Author:

Tremors in the Universe is a deeply personal chronicle of my quest to discover spiritual balance in my life as Parkinson's disease threatens to destroy my balance physically.
 
Initiated as a blog sixteen months after receiving my diagnosis, my intention in journaling my thoughts and experiences was threefold; to provide myself the opportunity for thoughtful introspection where a greater understanding of my relationship with Parkinson's and my spirituality might be achieved, to provide my three children with a more complete picture of their fathers beliefs and perspectives on life, and to empower other Parkinson's patients with an honest, sincere and inspirational view on living life positively with a chronic disease.                                                                              
 
Tremors in the Universe takes the reader on an intimate journey from sensing something in my universe was wrong, through the decision to start treatments, to PDs effects on my daily life, family and business.
 
It looks at my choice to participate in the Michael J. Fox Foundations PPMI clinical trial in the hopes of isolating a biomarker that may lead or contribute toward developing a cure, as well as my devotion and commitment to fundraising on behalf of Parkinson's research.
 
Simultaneously, the reader can share in and experience the inspirational gift that is my reawakening to my spirituality. By delving deep within my soul I discover the essence of my strength to establish a life-altering relationship with Parkinson's.
 
Through the recollections of childhood events and their relationships to shaping my attitudes today, you will discover the connections in life that bind us all together. Connections that are far stronger than the Parkinson's that is trying to destroy them.
 
The thoughts I share regarding my spirituality are not intended to pass judgment on any one's religion, faith, or belief, or to promote my views. They are simply my thoughts and ideas regarding my spirituality and an observation of how my spiritual growth is being affected by Parkinson's, and vice versa.
 
This book represents an opportunity for me to share with other Parkinson's patients (newly diagnosed and seasoned professionals) my experience. It is also a chance for me to work through my thoughts about both my faith and Parkinson's by writing them down. And I hope for my children most of all that it paints a meaningful representation of who their father is and what he is about.
 
Parkinson's disease has many symptoms, stages and degrees of severity, and the physical and emotional challenges vary as well. Therefor it is extremely important that I acknowledge that I am writing from the perspective of an individual who is at the beginning stages of the disease. I cannot profess to know the personal challenges and emotions that individuals in more advanced stages might be experiencing.
 
Tremors in the Universe is my personal journal, which serves to document my symptoms, progression and emotional and physical states. My hope is that it might remove some of the mystery of Parkinson's disease for newly diagnosed patients and more importantly offer an extremely personal look at the feelings, thoughts and emotions that one person experienced after receiving a diagnosis of a chronic disease and the first years of adapting and coming to terms with it.
 
When I began writing, I couldn't help but think that my relationship with Parkinson's and my spiritual beliefs would become more deeply intertwined. My intuition was correct. Each has played a profound role in shaping and altering the course of the other and some very enlightening events have taken place. 
 
This is but one mile on the path of my life.

About the Author:

Growing up in the Midwest, Robert Lyman Baittie embraced a unique perspective on his world with vision skewed by curiosity and imagination. Enthralled by the prospect of seeing the world as others may not, Robert took to the skies as a pilot, studying aviation at the University of Illinois before receiving his bachelors of fine arts degree in graphic design. A married father of three, Robert has since shared his creative vision and talent for writing for twenty-five years as the owner of Chicago-based Bob Baittie Design, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 145252016X
• ISBN 13: 9781452520162
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 262