Happy Wednesday! I’m back after a one-week hiatus. In the two weeks since my last update, I spent a long weekend in Providence, RI where I got to see WaterFire Providence. There were bonfires lit in braziers over the Woonasquatucket River, forming a fire-sculpture installation. Before sunset, we spent the day touring the RISD Museum […]
Navigating Life’s River: Course Corrections Read More »
Since the days of my medical training, I have been good at setting and holding professional boundaries with my patients. It’s possible to have both empathy and limits. As a consulting physician, I struggled much more with setting boundaries with my colleagues. Once, when I was a brand-new attending physician, it was my turn to
Finding Work/Life Balance: Learning to Set Limits Read More »
When I first came to work for Atlantic City Medical Center in 1994, I learned of an annual conference to bring humanities into the training of the Internal Medicine residents. Victor Bressler, MD, who championed these events, called them “Bringing Caregivers Closer.” He was ahead of his time. This was long before Rita Charon, MD
The Experience of Illness: Blending the Clinical and the Creative Read More »
This past weekend, I took a poetry workshop through SCOSA – The Stockton Center on Successful Aging. They have a Tour of Poetry every second Saturday from 11am-1pm at the Otto Bruyns Library in Northfield. This was my first time attending. I had been asked to lead the group in October, and I wanted to
White Coat Syndrome: From the Clinician Side Read More »
I recently listened to a TED talk by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Me-high Cheek-sent-me-high) about his concept of Flow. He defines Flow as the state where one is so engaged that everything else, including bodily sensation, ceases to exist. In his theory, this state occurs when a person is both highly talented and highly challenged. From this
Getting into Flow: Skill and Challenge Read More »
Today, my yoga teacher talked to us about beginner’s mind. She encouraged us to treat each yoga pose as if it were the first time we had ever done it. “Start with the basics, build each pose from the foundation up,” she said. She meant it literally, as when we set up for trikonasana (triangle
The Yoga of Sleep: Enhancing Creativity Read More »
Today marks the first installment of a new schedule for my blog posts and newsletter. Drafting each post on Tuesday afternoon (cue the Moody Blues) fits better into the flow of my week. Writing and publishing on the weekend was hampering the momentum of writing my memoir. This decision was not entirely intentional. Last Sunday,
Relaxing the Over-Controller Read More »
In a couple of weeks, I will begin a new learning curve in my medical career, even as I am slowing down. I will be working part-time in a Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Clinic, offering medication-assisted treatment in an intensive outpatient setting which includes group and individual counseling. In my training for this role, I
Discipline is Overrated: Try Self-Forgiveness Instead Read More »
This week, I found a quote from Toni Morrison that helped me. The quote was in one of the many articles I read in the New York Times after her death. Here’s a snippet from the Op-Ed written by Roxane Gay that includes the quote. In a conversation with Hilton Als for a profile
The Age of Anxiety: Should You Put Down Your Cell Phone? Read More »
Last week, I wrote about the external obstacles to my writing. This week, I hit internal obstacles: resistance and procrastination. These feel worse to me. I feel defeated when I allow myself to be undermined by my anxieties. Yet, I am proud when I am not permanently derailed, when I can get back on track
Blocks to the Flow: Resistance & Procrastination Read More »
