J.S. Park has heard thousands of deathbed confessions, wishes and regrets as an interfaith chaplain at Tampa General Hospital. “Very often at the edge of mortality or injury or illness – patients, people, us – we are emotionally vulnerable and we begin to open up about things that may have been kept long dormant,” Park told CTVNews.ca via video call from Tampa, Fla. “I would say, 98 per cent of the time they will tell me the type of person that they had wished that they could have become, what they wish they could have done.” For nearly a decade, Park has tended to the needs of patients and their loved ones at the 1,040-bed hospital. For every single trauma, death and code blue medical emergency, Park and other hospital chaplains are on-hand to offer spiritual support, grief counsel and assist with end-of-life decision-making “We see the hardest cases, the hardest types of injuries and illnesses: we get gunshot wounds, fire, fall, stabbing, stroke, drowning, all kinds of things,” Park explained. “As a hospital chaplain, I act as a non-judgmental, non-anxious, comforting presence.” Released this week, his new book “As Long as You Need” documents his journey and what he has learned about loss. “It’s part memoir, part hospital stories and part guide through grief,” Park said. “The book is trying to give permission for people to express grief in all the ways that it emerges, whether that’s screaming or shouting, dancing, singing, rolling on the floor, or numbness, fatigue, shutdown, cognitive fog, not being able to cry at all.” Parks says it’s also important, as the book’s title announces, to take as long as you need to grieve. “I think socially and culturally, we’re taught to suppress that grief, to move on, let go, turn the page, get back into the hustle and grind, and … reintegrate into livelihood again,” he said. “And so I would say, for those who are grieving, take your time and take the time that you need, and be gentle with yourself and be open to that.”Park describes himself as a former atheist who wanted to be a therapist before embracing Christianity in college. He tends to people of all faiths at the hospital and only discusses religion if a patient brings it up. “We are not there to convert or to preach, we’re there to be present,” Park said. “Most of my job is listening.” Hearing so many last words can also offer valuable lessons for the living. While many people don’t have the resources to pursue the lives they want, Park says many others can but ultimately choose not to, or they simply put off things for another day. “Death, whether it’s 30 years from now or tomorrow, the rift in the ground will open up one day,” Park said. “And if you can choose, if you have the resources, if you have the ability and capacity, my hope and my goal is to say choose today so that when you do end up in that deathbed, you’d be able to look back and say, ‘I didn’t do it perfectly, but I know I did it passionately, I know I did it fully to the best of my ability.’ And whether that means more time with children, or pursuing a hobby or a plan or a purpose, whether that means just putting the phone down and enjoying the moment, choose that.” In his new book ‘As Long as You Need’, hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words. (HarperCollins) Park has also heard troubling confessions, and has had to report ongoing abuse to authorities. He admits his work can weigh on him, and that from eating well to exercising to seeing a therapist and sleeping right, no amount of self-care can undo the things he’s seen and heard. “The thing that makes me a chaplain and a human is to be open and vulnerable to all my patients, and that’s the thing that makes this work especially hard,” Park said. “But I also can’t shut that down, I can’t compartmentalize, because the thing that makes me a chaplain and a human is what helps me to do the work. So I’m open to all of it, I feel the grief when it comes, I allow myself to cry and sometimes even to fall apart.” Searching for the silver lining, Park says being surrounded by death has also made him more appreciative of life. He frequently shares his experiences and insights to a large social media following. “You know, life really is a flicker: we’re paper lanterns and the simplest spark can make us go,” Park said. “So I really try to be in the moment and try for my patients in the last moments, if they didn’t get to have what they wanted, how can I make the space for them in that moment to have it.”

Sophie Kinsella, the best-selling author behind the “Shopaholic” book series, has revealed that she is receiving treatment for brain cancer.

“I’ve wanted for a long time to share with you a health update and I’ve been waiting for the strength to do so,” she wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday.

“At the end of 2022 I was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a form of aggressive brain cancer. I did not share this before because I wanted to make sure that my children were able to hear and process the news in privacy and adapt to our ‘new normal,’” she continued.

Glioblastomas are a fast-growing type of brain tumor and the most common type of cancerous (malignant) brain tumor in adults, according to charity Cancer Research UK.

Kinsella, who lives in the United Kingdom with her husband and children, said she is under the care of an “excellent team” at a London hospital, and has had “successful surgery and subsequent radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which is still ongoing.”

“At the moment all is stable and I am feeling generally very well, though I get very tired and my memory is even worse than it was before,” she added.

The author, who also goes by the name Madeleine Wickham, has sold more than 45 million copies of her books, which have been translated into more than 40 languages, in more than 60 countries, according to her website.

Her “Shopaholic” protagonist, Becky Bloomwood, a shopping-loving financial journalist who is hopeless with money, made it to the big screen in a 2009 movie adaptation “Confessions of a Shopaholic.” She was portrayed by Australian actress Isla Fisher.

“Sending you so much love and healing energy,” Fisher commented under Kinsella’s Instagram post.

“I am so grateful to my family and close friends who have been an incredible support to me, and to the wonderful doctors and nurses who have treated me,” Kinsella added in her post.

“I am also so grateful to my readers for your constant support. The wonderful response to The Burnout has really buoyed me up, during a difficult time,” she continued.

Kinsella’s latest book, romantic comedy “The Burnout,” was released in October.

Some people love to wash their car, and for others, it’s their most hated chore. It’s a necessity for car owners, so no matter where you fall on the love-hate spectrum, you want a car wash that’s going to give your car a deep clean that lasts. Automatic car washes are at almost any gas…

  When you take your car to the car wash, there are multiple add-ons available, and one common choice is spray-on wax. It may seem like it doesn’t make a difference, but there are some important benefits. And these benefits go beyond how shiny your will car looks. What Are the Benefits of Waxing Your…

Even when you are lucky enough to start with an empty room, it can be overwhelming to design an interior that you can enjoy for years to come. Following some basic interior design principles, you can transform your space into a relaxing room you will be comfortable and happy with. Decide what your focal point will be and build out from there.  For best results, keep proportion and scale in mind as you decorate as well as these tips!

 Deciding on Your Focal Point
Do you have a magnificent bay window with an incredible view?  Is there an ornate mantle that is the reason you fell in love with your home? Or is there something you absolutely MUST HAVE in the room? Situate your furniture around your chosen focal point to create balance and equilibrium. If your room does not already have an existing focal point, create one with oversized art or add an accent point like a free-standing fireplace, they come in a variety of sizes and styles. Symmetrically balance the room evenly so that both sides mirror one another.  This will help your chosen focal point stand out all the more! Use matching accent tables to flank your sofa or use different pieces of furniture to create a copacetic visual impact, like two similar armchairs to balance a sofa.
Repetition for Rhythm
Rhythm creates a flow and helps direct the eye to the differing visual elements in your room. Just as the notes of a favorite song repeat to create the rhythm, repetition in decor will create a rhythm throughout a home. Establish visual interests with a rhythm throughout your space by placing similar colours or patterns at intervals and repeat in artwork, cushions or area rugs.

Perfect Proportion and Suitable Scaling
Who doesn’t love a large, overstuffed chair? But if your room is on the smaller size it may look out of place and make your room seem even smaller than it is. Keep proportion in perspective. Proportion is the ratio between a piece of furniture and the size of a room. Scale is the size of a piece of furniture in relation to the other pieces of furniture in the room. A super large chair will overpower an apartment of loft size sofa or loveseat and create a sense of unbalance in the room.

Have your room humming harmoniously
Creating harmony will enhance how much you will continue to love your finished. Pull the room with a subdued colour palette for a pleasing, harmonious vibe.   together for a pleasing, harmonious look with a subdued color palette. You can also use a single colour for elements that vary in size and shape. Check out our blog on Doing White on White Right! for more tips!

What is the focal point in your room?  What is your best tip to find harmony and balance through your home?