Every Day is Magic: Ada Limón

In her 2015 collection, Bright Dead Things, a National Book Award finalist for poetry, Ada Limón writes of moving to Kentucky: “Confession: I did not want to live here.” It’s perhaps not a surprising sentiment coming from a coastally oriented person who was raised in Northern California, attended college in Seattle, and then spent over a decade in New York City.

 

But Limón and her husband, Lucas, have been in Lexington for seven years now and the effects of settling into this place are noticeable in her new book, The Carrying (Milkweed, Aug.). It’s a phenomenally lively and attentive collection replete with the trappings of living a little closer to nature. While Bright Dead Things is marked by a preponderance of light, such as images of fireflies and neon signs, The Carrying features numerous appearances by various trees, birds, and beetles. Limón also demonstrates a greater willingness to be explicit in naming colors, particularly green. “It’s crazy green, the whole book,” she says. “Lexington is the greenest place I’ve ever lived.” Similarly, where in Bright Dead Things, Limón tells a lot of stories and anecdotes, in The Carrying she is very present in her thoughts and experiences.

As it turns out, these shifts in focus have another, altogether unexpected source. While putting Bright Dead Things together, Limón was diagnosed with chronic vestibular neuronitis, which can cause bouts of vertigo. “If I’m really having vertigo, it’s pretty intense and I really have to focus,”
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Health

Mother-Child Dyadic Synchrony and its Association with Children’s Socio-Emotional Competence in Mexican American Families

P Velez-Gomez – 2012
… Page 11. Texas Tech University, Paulina Velez-Gomez, August 2012 4 with only a small
percentage that has achieved a college level education and professional occupations (Martinez,
2001) Taking into account the growing rates of Mexican American families in the …
Link to thesis

Mexican-American Experiences of Vocational Training and Adult Learning after a Layoff Event in San Antonio, Texas

DP Mena, GN McLean
… Given the dearth of literature on Mexican-American displaced workers, it is essential to find
successful interventions that assist this group of … HRD professionals will directly benefit from this
study for this knowledge will minimize emotional impact and prepare employees by …
Link to article-slow in loading

Cardiovascular reactivity during stressful speaking tasks in Mexican American Women: effects of language use and interaction partner ethnicity

JJ MacKenzie, TW Smith, BN Uchino – Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 2012
… Two Caucasian and two Mexican–American women served as video-recorded part-
ners. … Measures Questionnaires that were not available initially in Spanish were forward
and back translated by professional bilingual translators. …
Link to abstract

Social Support, Stressors, and Frailty Among Older Mexican American Adults

MK Peek, BT Howrey, RS Ternent, LA Ray… – The Journals of Gerontology …, 2012
… Social Support, Stressors, and Frailty Among Older Mexican American Adults. … Given that the
Mexican American population is rapidly growing in the United States, it is important to determine
whether there are modifiable social factors related to frailty in this older group. Method. …
Link to abstract

Fatalysm and Cardio-Metabolic Dysfunction in Mexican-American Women

K Espinosa de los Monteros, LC Gallo – International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 2012
… were randomly recruited via targeted telephone and mail procedures from San Diego communities
with high densities of Mexican–American residents and … 3) high school diploma or equivalent,
(4) some college, (5) bachelors degree, and (6) graduate or professional degree. …
Link to abstract

Narrative Pedagogy: Informing a Telenovela-Guided Dialogue Intervention to Increase Mexican American Elders’ Use of Home Health Care Services

JD Crist, F FNGNA
… move toward increased levels of well-being (ie, the elder is better able to age in place; the
caregiver can maintain a balance in his/her professional and personal life). … Crist, JD (2008). Theory
derivation and the telenovela: Facilitating Mexican-American family use of home …
Link to article

Mexican American Girl’s Educational Achievement and Aspirations

LY Flores, PO Garriott – The Oxford Handbook of Prevention in Counseling …, 2012
… their educational and career goals can prevent the underachievement and underutilization ofgirls’
talents and help girls to achieve personal and professional success. In the remainder of this chap-
ter, we focus on educational prevention programs with Mexican American girls. …
Link to section

The Mexican American Health Paradox: The Collective Influence of Sociocultural Factors on Hispanic Health Outcomes

MP George – Student Pulse, 2012
… professional behavior for lack of interest or when a physician, unfamiliar with Hispanic patients,
perceives Hispanics to be superstitious, present-oriented, or uninterested in preventive exams”
(p. 487). As a result of this disconnect between doctors and their Mexican American …
Link to article

Use of Alternative Medicine for Weight Loss Among Mexican-American Women

NM Lindberg, VJ Stevens, C Elder, K Funk… – Journal of Immigrant and …, 2012
… Mexican-American women report using a wide range of CAM therapies for weight
loss. Under- standing their patterns of use will enhance cultural com- petence of health
care professionals and help address their medical needs. …
Link to abstract

Experience of Mexican-American Elders with Diabetes: A Phenomenological Study

EP Haltiwanger – Occupational Therapy in Health Care, 2012
… Complicating matters is the fact that health professionals may not feel comfortable
dealing with the psychosocial issues. … (2007) found that levels of distress were higher
than clinical depression in Mexican-American adults age 18–65.
Link to abstract

Cultural Adaptation of a Cognitive Behavior Therapy Guided Self-Help Program for Mexican American Women With Binge Eating Disorders

M Shea, F Cachelin, L Uribe, RH Striegel… – Journal of Counseling & …, 2012
… Mexican American women who suffer from binge-eating-related disorders often report wanting
help for their eating problems, yet they rarely seek professional treatment because of personal
and institutional barriers (Cachelin & Striegel-Moore, 2006). …
Link to abstract

Concepts of diabetes self-management in Mexican American and African American low-income patients with diabetes

EB Lynch, A Fernandez, N Lighthouse… – Health Education Research, 2012
… Concepts of diabetes self-management in Mexican American and African American
low-income patients with diabetes. … Relative to African Americans, Mexican American
participants were less educated and less likely to have health insurance. …
Link to abstract

Mexican-American and Puerto Rican Breast Cancer Survivors’ Perspectives on Exercise: Similarities and Differences

RA Treviño, L Vallejo, DC Hughes, V Gonzalez… – Journal of Immigrant and Minority …
… Table 1 Mexican-American Participant Characteristics Participant characteristics* … had completed
active treatment reported having sought help from other cancer survivors, personal supporters,
or from the internet in lieu of receiving information from health care professionals (Fig …
Link to abstract

Associations Between Socioeconomic Status and Catecholamine Levels Vary by Acculturation Status in Mexican-American Women

JA Jiménez, S Shivpuri, KE de los Monteros… – Annals of Behavioral …, 2012
… Spanish-speaking Mexican-American women evidenced an inverse gradient similar to
non-Hispanic white and African-American popula- tions [5 … the border is a permeable boundary
that is frequently crossed for social, educational, healthcare, commerce, or professional reasons …
Link to abstract

A Multiple Case Study Examination of Resiliency Factors for Mexican and Mexican-American Transsexual Women

S Reicherzer… – International Journal of Transgenderism, 2012
… A Multiple Case Study Examination of Resiliency Factors for Mexican and Mexican-American
Transsexual Women. … for gaining a scope of the problems experienced by the transgender
community, it does very little to inform social and mental health service professionals of the
Link to abstract”

Attitudes Regarding the Use of Ventilator Support Given a Supposed Terminal Condition among Community-Dwelling Mexican American and Non-HispanicWhite Older Adults: A Pilot Study

MR Finley, J Becho, RL Macias, RC Wood… – 2012
… Variables Mexican American (n = 100) Age, mean ± SD 70.1 ± 7.9 Gender, n (%) Male 42 (42.0%)
Female 58 (58.0%) Education, n (%) Grade 10 or less 37 (37.0%) 10th Grade 63 (63.0%)
Professional/nonprofessional occupation 34 (34.0%) Health, n (%)∗ Good or excellent …
Link to article

Effect of Acculturation and Mutuality on Family Loyalty Among Mexican American Caregivers of Elders

HFS Kao… – Journal of Nursing Scholarship
… Mexican American families highly value their elders, family loyalty toward older relatives among
this population has not been thor- oughly investigated. An examination of the dynamics that affect
eldercare among Mexican Americans will help healthcare professionals determine …
Link to abstract

THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF MEXICAN AMERICAN ADOLESCENT GRANDCHILDREN RAISED BY THEIR GRANDPARENTS: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY

JF Whittenberg – 2012
… evil eye (mal de ojo). Instead of seeking help from a family physician or mental health professional,
Mexican Americans may choose to seek help from a folk healer … Mexican communities (Deck,
2009). It is important to note that not all Mexican American families attribute
Link to dissertation


  

Poem
“…And would it have been worth it, after all,
Would it have been worth while,
After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets,
After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor—
And this, and so much more?—
It is impossible to say just what I mean!
But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen:
Would it have been worth while…”

T.S. Eliot
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Mexican American Proarchive Annual Report for 2022

The American Community Survey is an annual survey administered by the federal government to help local officials and community leaders and businesses understand the changes that take place in their communities. It includes percentages of our population’s graduate school attainment and the employment of Mexican Americans in various occupations.  These important factors influence the allocation of federal resources. Mexican American Proarchives uses the data provided by the American Community Survey to better understand how Mexican Americans compare to the general population.

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