The meaning of a barrel

I would like to introduce you to my barrel.It is 20 years old.  One of its principal identifying characteristics is its blue color.  Although I haven't done the math to determine whether or not it is of optimal dimension (a la Keppler) I have always considered that it is the precisely correct size  for many purposes.  Toddlers can stand it it quite well and not be overwhelmed by its height, and although that is no confirmation by differential calculus it is a pragmatic measure that I have always appreciated.  So what is the meaning of a barrel?  To Keppler it was an obsession based on not wanting to be ripped off by a wine merchant and it ended up feeding his thought process that led to our understanding of planetary motion.  That intrigues and amuses me more than I can probably express.For me the meaning of my barrel is both personally and socially derived, just as described by Hasselkus (2002, p.3).  I purchased the barrel when I was working at another facility as a very young therapist.  Some months after I left that facility I received a phone call from the Director who offered to sell me a lot of the equipment because the clinic was closing.  For a modest donation I was able to purchase the barrel along with a lot of my other equipment that is still in my clinic. My earliest recollection of using the barrel in therapy was with Brittany, a toddler who had hemiplegic cerebral palsy.  She would stand inside th...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: ABC Therapeutics OT stories philosophy Source Type: blogs