Tag: health

Recovering from psychosis in San Diego.

Yesterday, an educational event was held in San Diego. Visitors to the World Design Capital’s Exchange Pavilion in Balboa Park could watch videos and read information about the mental condition known as psychosis.

As Wikipedia explains: “Psychosis is a condition of the mind or psyche that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations…”

At the event, Serena, representing the organization CALM, encouraged everyone that psychosis when recognized is very treatable.

I was surprised to learn, when I visited the CALM website, that 3 out of 100 people will experience psychosis in their lifetimes. San Diego County has a population of over 3 million people. That means about 100,000 residents will, at some point, experience psychosis.

There’s an online quiz anyone can take that help determine whether you or someone you know may be experiencing psychosis. The quiz can be taken anonymously. If you’d like, you can reach out afterward for support. Find the quiz by going to the CALM website here.

I photographed both sides of an information card that Serena handed out. The card includes resources and phone numbers in San Diego that provide help.

Like everyone, I’ve had my own difficult issues in life. It’s always a good idea to face your troubles and get help if necessary.

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San Diego walkers help those living with dementia.

Hundreds of smiling people participated in the Walk4ALZ 2024 walk this morning in Balboa Park. The annual event is a fundraiser for Alzheimer’s San Diego, a local nonprofit organization that helps many of the approximately 100,000 San Diegans living with dementia. Every dollar that was raised will stay in San Diego County.

I took these photographs as I walked near the group. I saw teams holding signs, many families in support of loved ones who have Alzheimer’s, folks along the route cheering on the walkers, and some fun costumes, too!

If you’d like to learn more about Alzheimer’s San Diego and perhaps support their efforts, or if you know someone with dementia and would like assistance, check out their website by clicking here.

To learn about Alzheimer’s disease, check out their informational web page.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Young musicians fight childhood cancer in San Diego!

Seven young musicians performed today at the San Diego Symphony’s downtown Jacobs Music Center. The musicians represented Joey’s Wings. The mission of Joey’s Wings is to fund research that focuses on kidney cancers affecting children and young adults, raise awareness and provide support to families affected by childhood cancer.

Joey’s Wings was one of many community groups performing during the San Diego Symphony’s special free Day of Music at the newly renovated Jacobs Music Center. I spotted the young musicians around noon performing for a gathered crowd in the Box Office Lobby.

At a nearby table, Kathy Liu, President and Founder of the organization told me briefly about Joey, her son who passed away from cancer at age ten. Joey started to play violin when he was six. He loved music and painting. Learn more about Joey here.

Friends of her second son, David, who are members of the San Diego Youth Symphony and Mainly Mozart Youth Orchestra, came together to today make beautiful music. And to make the lives of people better.

As I understand it, the crocheted figures you see on the table were created by the mother of one young musician. I think I see San Diego Symphony Music Director Rafael Payare!

If you weren’t at the event today, and wish to help out, visit the Joey’s Wings website by clicking here.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Photos of 2024 San Diego Heart & Stroke Walk!

The 2024 San Diego Heart & Stroke Walk was held this morning in Balboa Park. Participants raised over one million dollars this year, supporting the American Heart Association and its many important programs!

I visited the event and took these inspiring photographs. Teams walking through the park and past the finish line were being encouraged by students from San Diego State University. There was a fun dog costume contest, a photo booth, roses for participants, a community board showing who walkers walk for, a small farmers market, and more. Heart disease and stroke survivors could ring a bell to celebrate life!

The American Heart Association supports medical research and educational programs. Projects, according to their website, include:

Up-to-the-minute research into doctors’ hands so they can better prevent and treat heart disease among patients. Groundbreaking pediatric heart and stroke research that is key to saving babies’ lives. Providing life-saving information that can save a life – like how to eat better, how to recognize the warning signs of heart attack, and how to talk to a doctor about critical health choices.

If you’d like to support the American Heart Association with a donation, or if you’d like to participate in a future walk, click here!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Gamers Outreach brings play to kids in hospitals!

Are you a gamer with heart? Would you like to improve the lives of hospitalized kids? Gamers Outreach is a charity that would appreciate your help.

The two cool people in the above photo are raising money for Gamers Outreach during TwitchCon in San Diego. I spotted them today grilling hot dogs at a tent on Harbor Drive. Look for them near a dancing hot dog!

Their objective: help fund programs that brighten the day of sick kids in hospitals, including San Diego’s own Rady Children’s Hospital.

Let me share two paragraphs from Gamers Outreach literature:

WHO WE ARE

Gamers Outreach is a charity that empowers hospitalized families through play. Our goal is to build a world where activity is easily prioritized as part of care. Video games are our tools of choice.

WHY WE DO IT

Being in the hospital can be scary and isolating. Games give kids access to adventure and opportunities to socialize. Sometimes healthcare staff even use games to assist with treatment!

Gamers Outreach has several programs. Click here to check out their GO Karts (Gamers Outreach Karts), which are portable video game kiosks built specifically for hospitals. Kids stuck in bed can play!

The Player 2 program encourages volunteers to distribute, manage, and play games with hospitalized kids! This role is particularly great for college gamers!

The Save Point program provides hospitals with high-tech vending machines that distribute items such as toys, game codes, and fun swag to kids receiving care . . . as they progress through treatment. Make getting better a fun goal! Curious hospitals should check this out!

Gamers Outreach helps thousands of children per year in a multitude of hospitals. Interested in learning more, and perhaps helping this effort? Visit their website by clicking here!

If you’re in San Diego for TwitchCon, head over to the fundraising tent on Harbor Drive across from the convention center, near the Gaslamp trolley station. I spun their prize wheel and got a free hot dog!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Survivors of Suicide Loss provides comfort, hope.

An important event was held today in Balboa Park. The Survivors of Suicide Loss San Diego held a Walk in Remembrance With Hope.

As I entered Balboa Park for a late Sunday morning stroll, I noticed tents and a stage coming down on the grass near Sixth Avenue. I then spoke to smiling people who had worked to organize the event.

When I was told about the Walk in Remembrance With Hope, I wanted to help in a small way with my blog.

The walk was a memorable way to celebrate the lives of loved ones lost to suicide
& to raise awareness about suicide prevention. Funds raised stay in San Diego County for suicide outreach & prevention and survivor support services.

If you’d like to read more about the organization, find comfort, or help spread human compassion, please visit the Survivors of Suicide Loss San Diego website by clicking here.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Taking a San Diego trolley to Destination JOY!

Some trolley riders smiled. Others slept. Some unabashedly sang along. Others stared at the unexpected spectacle with suspicion or disbelief. We all were riding a San Diego trolley to Destination JOY!

A special event was held today in San Diego. Trolley passengers could experience bright smiles and joy at certain stations and, perhaps unexpectedly, while riding the Blue or Orange lines! Destination JOY was the name of this first time event, and I experienced a bit of it myself!

Sustainable transportation, climate change mitigation, health and well-being, and civic engagement were the central themes of the event, which was presented by Way Outside the Lines in partnership with many community organizations and the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS). The mood of the event was happy and optimistic–full of good vibes!

At the Iris Avenue Transit Center, both registered participants and ordinary transit users could listen to poetry readings about human love in a sometimes difficult world, see colorful artwork, listen to live music, and even learn how to beat the summer heat. The theme at this station was the Sound of Joy…

Anyone could walk up and try their hand at painting. This is local artist David Gomez, who also had a small gallery of his artwork on display.

Institute for Public Strategies was at the Iris Avenue Transit Center educating people about how to beat the summer heat.

These musicians weren’t playing when I happened by, but they gave me the thumbs up!

A group that signed up for the full 4 hour Destination JOY experience prepare to board a random Blue Line trolley. They and surprised passengers would be entertained by a musical trolley show!

At the E Street Transit Center in Chula Vista, the roving group would enjoy more outdoor activations. The theme here was Art of Motion. Anyone who happened to come by the trolley station could participate in yoga and other healthy activities.

Smiles from the Yoga Lab!

I then headed off on my own to check out the activations at the 24th Avenue Transit Center in National City. Expression of Color was the theme at this station, and much of what I saw, including more colorful artwork, concerned protecting our natural environment.

I learned that a new project called Mundo Gardens is planned for National City. The Interstate 805 ramps for 43rd Street will be coming down creating an open space for the community.

From the 24th Street Transit Center I rode a Blue Line trolley back into downtown San Diego, missing the final Orange Line activations at the Euclid Avenue Station & Jacobs Center.

I did find friendly folks from the Urban Collaborative Project inside UC San Diego Park & Market near the trolley station of the same name. They aim to make Southeast San Diego a more vibrant, informed, connected, and empowered community!

The following stone was painted by Elie Kennedy, who had a table nearby. Visit my blog post concerning her work spreading love in San Diego by clicking here!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

San Diego’s new recreation area at Waterfront Park!

If you live in downtown San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood, or anywhere near the County Administration Center, you’re in luck! The new outdoor recreation area in Waterfront Park opened last week!

This community resource had been a work in progress for a very long time, and now it can welcome those who like to play sports, exercise, or walk their dog in the San Diego sunshine. You can see photographs of the area under construction here and here.

The recreation area occupies the northeast corner of Waterfront Park. It includes one basketball and two pickleball courts, five exercise stations, a ping pong table, plus a fenced off-leash dog area with agility equipment. Pickleball paddles and balls, table tennis paddles and balls, basketballs, and TRX suspension equipment can be freely checked out from a nearby information booth, which is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the summer, and from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. from fall to spring. A sign on the booth’s window indicates there’s also a bocce ball set and chess set available for loan.

I’m happy to see that the 1.25 acre area spared some of the old garden where it was built. And there are benches to sit in the shade of newly planted trees, and even a Little Free Library box near the information booth with books that young or old might enjoy reading.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

San Diego sunshine on Bike Anywhere Day!

Today is Bike Anywhere Day in San Diego! The event, promoted by SANDAG, occurs smack dab in the middle of May, which is National Bike Month.

The sun broke through the “May gray” this afternoon, and more than a few people took advantage of the mild weather as they rode bicycles around the city. Bike Anywhere Day encourages people to enjoy the outdoors on two wheels–whether they are going to work or simply having some healthy fun.

Early in the morning I walked around downtown to visit some of the many Bike Anywhere Day pit stops. The one I found, at the foot of the Broadway Pier, was just getting set up. Some bikes were already present, and I received a big smile from a friendly gentleman representing the Port of San Diego!

In the late afternoon, as I walked home from work, I spotted more bicycles on the move!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Kids fighting cancer: a Celebration of Champions!

The 29th Celebration of Champions was held today in San Diego at Embarcadero Marina Park North!

Families from around the region gathered for relay races, a circle of life, and happy activities celebrating kids who fight childhood cancer. The event benefits Rady Children’s Peckham Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, which offers one of the nation’s top pediatric cancer programs.

Young kids played and romped during the festival, and families remembered loving children who had tragically passed away.

Generous sponsors ran relays with individual families and children, everyone cheering encouragement. The San Diego Padres and Gulls were present, as were SDSU cheerleaders and Star Wars cosplayers and Batman with his cool Batmobile! I almost forgot the pony rides and carnival!

What an inspirational event. An immense crowd had gathered in the San Diego sunshine. Faith in humanity restored. You had to be there.

If you’d like to help out Rady Children’s Hospital, click here!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!