“I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” ― Anne Frank
Time Well Spent
A famous physician author once penned, “the best medical student only triples your work.” While this cynical statement does have potential to ring true, I have also experienced the exact opposite–when having a medical student in clinic saves time, spares the patient unnecessary work up, and saves health care dollars. Recently I had one of…
Joy in the Mourning
There is a verse from the book of Psalms: “Weeping may tarry through the night, but joy comes with the morning.” This verse (30:5) has been expressed as a phrase in popular culture, as a song lyric, even as a movie title for a 1965 romantic drama starring Richard Chamberlain. The other day, my friend…
Not Ready
Last week, I stayed overnight at my parents’ house in Milaca. The next morning, I woke up, and feeling exhausted from a lack of sleep the night before, went downstairs into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. I turned on the Keurig, and immediately the digital display flashed the message: NOT READY. To…
August, and everything after
August should feel relaxed, lush and lazy, heavy with heat and humidity, the dog days of summer as they say. The local farmer’s markets and neighborhood gardens start to bring forth their bounty; ripe juicy tomatoes, plump and shining bell peppers, fragrant basil. The area lakes turn green with algae; a chartreuse slick of foam…
To B or Not to B
Last fall, I was invited to give a talk to a group of breast cancer survivors known as the Firefly Sisterhood. Prior to the presentation I met with a very nice woman who was organizing it, also a survivor herself; of course, we got to talking about all things breast cancer related, including the current…
Things I’ll Miss About the Pandemic
Most mental health experts will tell you that generating a list of positives can help reframe your response to a situation and lift your mood. “Count your blessings” is a popular saying, song lyric, and commonly held belief. The other day, I started to contemplate a few positive things that came about during the pandemic;…
We Are Winning
In light of the alarming numbers and news reports regarding the omicron variant, I just had to share highlights of a group conversation in my clinic this morning that I felt would be a welcome note of positivity. In short: we are winning. While cases have spiked to as high as >10,000 per day in…
Oktoberfest
The month of October used to be associated with many positive things, at least for me; sunny and cool autumn weather, the turning of the leaves, seeing beautiful fall colors at their peak, and football, lots of football. I also appreciate the transition to different menu items this time of year; at last week’s farmer’s…
The Swear Jar
Back in 2019–which seems like decades ago now!–the months leading up to the release of my first book were actually a bit of a blur. Here I thought that the actual writing of the book would be the most challenging, time consuming part; later, I found the arduous journey of finding a willing publisher was…
Finding the Time
Recently I was involved in teaching a workshop to Internal Medicine residents, presenting a topic somewhat unique, a bit different than our usual educational offerings. I was talking about therapeutic aspects of creative writing–this was a coping mechanism for me after my cancer diagnosis in 2016. But residents in training have also used writing in…
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