Amelia Island holly

Amelia Island holly
Amelia sand dune

Friday, August 2, 2013

Reflections on Healing


We are most fortunate on the Island to be only 45 minutes away from one of the three Mayo Clinics in
the country.  It is located in Jacksonville.  We usually take the ferry over to Mayport and eliminate about 26 miles one way.  There is usually much less traffic and less boring highway.  We like to stop in Neptune Beach for coffee, or for lunch at Lily's which is a charming little cafe sitting in the midst of a sweet courtyard bordering other shops.  It is delightful to people watch, or even to chat with folks at the next table.  Neptune Beach is right on the ocean and one block from Lily's you are on the sand of a beautiful beach.

Mayo Clinic is a premier diagnostic center, now with its own hospital.  It's campus is stunning. There are water gardens, meditation gardens as well as a non-denominational chapel which is pictured below.
I took the photo of the chapel with my ipad camera.  I was delighted to find that my icloud had worked and the photos were on iphoto on my Mac...a nice surprise.  Experimentation is still the name of the game with my iPad.  There are original pieces of stunning art everywhere at the Mayo.  Some days one can find a volunteer artist playing a classical piece on a grand piano in one of the corridors (I would never call them halls , they are much more than that...rather galleries)  Light flows in from huge windows with views of sculptures on green lawns.  All to help the healing that takes place there. We
primarily seek our medical care on the Island, but sometimes a complicated problem requires specialized help, so we come to the Mayo.  It was surely a consideration when we moved here.

At the Mayo all of the beauty, calm, and reassurance from friendly and professional staff means healers heal themselves as they heal others.