Up to a certain point, cans are more valuable than our cannots. An important can from my early adulthood: learning I can be a teacher. I'd never taught anything, but I learned how. From then on, I knew I could do something I'd never done before. This has been a valuable understanding. Though, past a … Continue reading Newsletter #102: Where Capability Meets Its Death
Tag: Medicine
Newsletter #82: Home is Where You Are
In The Daily Pressfield, Stephen Pressfield explores the arch of the hero's journey. The journey, he writes, starts at home and ends at home. But for us... where's home? Born and bred, I'm an Oklahoman. In 2018, I moved from Oklahoma for residency in California, but long before I departed for California, Oklahoma ceased being … Continue reading Newsletter #82: Home is Where You Are
Newsletter #64: Enduring the Dark by Firefly
Spirit and soul. Until about twenty-five, I considered the words synonymous, representing the same idea: who we are. But I was wrong. Because until that time, I'd only known my spirit. Enter medical school, the one pursuit my spirit couldn't lift me through, the place where my spirit sank into darkness, the place where soul … Continue reading Newsletter #64: Enduring the Dark by Firefly
Humbled by an Afternoon of Mystery
“Isn’t this world a mysterious place?” I nodded, smiling back at her in agreement. Just an hour earlier, I sold a dresser to this kind woman, and while I was situating her newly acquired centerpiece into her dining room, she asked if I did restoration work for hire. That I did, I told her. She … Continue reading Humbled by an Afternoon of Mystery
Newsletter #53: Do Not Disturb the Great Whites
The nearest surf spot to our house in Santa Barbara was a point break called Leadbetter. That place terrified me. In South Orange County, I'd surfed sandbar beach breaks, which accommodated my falls with minor inconvenience. At Leadbetter, my skull could crack open on its rocky bottom. And of course, as always, there were rumors … Continue reading Newsletter #53: Do Not Disturb the Great Whites
Before I Learned How Much I Needed to Change
“Fighty, we’re all on the long road back to who we were in high school.” I’ve been sixteen, a football player that blasted rap music from his truck with twenty-inch rims. I’ve been twenty-four, a health teacher and vegan evangelist that ran 5Ks every weekend. I’ve been twenty-seven, a medical student that survived on his … Continue reading Before I Learned How Much I Needed to Change
Sensing, Before Seeing, the Destination
Yesterday as the sun set, I followed GPS directions into a neighborhood tucked between creases of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I instantly adored the place. At the neighborhood’s entrance, there was an empty pond with wooden docks for fishing and barely blooming willows on the banks. Every home was on a half-acre. Every driveway was … Continue reading Sensing, Before Seeing, the Destination
Newsletter #48: Winter’s Getting to Me
Yesterday, on my morning walk by the creek that trickles behind our home, a purple speck caught my attention. Because I was looking for trout—something I do no matter the depth of the creek, river, or lake—I saw the color pop against the brown dirt of the creek's bank. With cold hands, I scattered decaying … Continue reading Newsletter #48: Winter’s Getting to Me
I’d Rather Be Tired Than Asleep
Snoozing is harmless. Everyone snoozes, I thought to myself, when I chose to snooze today. After all, it's only nine minutes. But nine minutes matters. Ask my throbbing ankle.
Hello, Happiness? Is That You?
Am I happy? Since my eyes opened four hours ago, I’ve dreaded writing this essay. Now that I’m drafting this essay, the dread grows. It’s not coming together as expected. This feeling sucks. My head hurts. I want to go back to bed. No, I am not happy.