Gathering thoughts…
Breathing vast cerulean
Crisp cobblestone
Remembering when I visited
Centuries ago
I meet a young girl
Full of wonder and ache
The world is yours
But it will also take
Misguidance awaits
Learning is painful
Something I like to remember
When things are blue
I breathe and I remember
A stunning place
In silent November
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Knowing is table stakes. “Do you know the patient?” A common question asked in the clinical world. When I was in training, I literally thought the question meant whether the patient is part of the list I am responsible for that day. A simple yes or no. Now when I get asked, I know that the knowing is much deeper. Do you know about the person’s family, her interests, and the…
People commonly fantasize about starting their own location-independent, million dollar businesses. I know several people who now work out of their boats. While there is a whole industry on entrepreneurship (e.g. books, social media figures, boot camps, communities) - the overall landscape is covered in survivorship bias. We only see the winners, which there are likely <1%…
The first question, without fail, in our capitalist society: what do you do? I meet you for the first time. You always lead with ‘what do you do’? Went to a blogging meetup full of strangers recently. I could tell immediately from the energy and the question re: my work that several people were not from the Pacific Northwest. Because at least here, culturally if you are not a…
Empathy. Extremely important in the care industry. “You know you’re not being empathetic enough if the person in front of you ain’t crying” - I have always heard. As part of my day job, I am not supposed to be anyone’s therapist, but I end up needing to demonstrate empathy. When I was younger, I stuck to canned phrases (“that sounds hard”). As I matured, I actually started to…
Despite my scientific background, education, and critical thinking skills — I am extremely superstitious. I am not religious. I love the contrarian viewpoint. I am able to think for myself. Yet I am incredibly superstitious. It is primarily because of witnessing too many improbable events. In healthcare, some of the best workers (clinicians, nurses, emergency techs) have their…
