Many of us who live in the country have our lives punctuated by sightings of wild things. We like to think we’re civilized, eating with a spoon, paying our bills, opening the door for a friend, but then a row of bats is dangling from near the front door gutter, or a...
#15 Decision Time
Sometimes when I am at the store, I feel I have too many choices. As a generally decisive person, I am a bit thrown off by fourteen varieties of apples or a wall full of colored pens. Of course, mostly I am grateful for the abundance that surrounds me. This relates to...
#9 Bare Bones
We leave Amherst at 8 am for a day of appts at MGH in Boston Wednesday. Slated for bloodwork, a conversation with the clinical trial nurses, meeting with the PA, and a PICC line dressing cleaning (which I immediately reframe as a spa experience! Ah the cool cleansers...
#10 Buzz Cut
I am blessed with a head of thick, dark, hair, often long and usually straight. If there is a quick, low-maintenance way to wear it, I do, from a pony tail, to tucked up in a bun with a chopstick. In my 40s, as eager strands of silvery white wisp into the mix, I like...
#8 Surrender
With any big diagnosis,, or maybe it’s just life, there are bumps along the way. I always hope the bumps smooth out, that they are not too serious, and that reasonable solutions are found. I personally am looking for grace when I hit a bump, but it is not always in...
Field Notes from Fifty-Five Fruit Street #7. Pain
I was not thinking much about pain when I was getting ready to report to duty at Fifty-Five Fruit Street. Mine has been a life devoid of physical pain. Never have a headache, never broke a bone, never had dental pain, don’t suffer from a chronic inflammatory ailment...
Field Notes from Fifty-Five Fruit Street #6. Context Dependent
In our family’s work, each of us is involved with team building and creating unified efforts with articulated goals across our chosen areas of expertise — medicine and healing, the arts, technology, and sports. One thing we all appreciate is that most everything in...
Field Notes from Fifty-Five Fruit Street #5. Shower
In 1986 when Paul and I honeymoon in the North Cascades, neither of us is an experienced backpacker. On one leg of our journey, we arrive at Nancy Lake, at the far end of Lake Chelan at an exquisite campground along the water. After being in the woods and carrying...
Power Tools!
There are many ways I benefitted from being part of the first wave of Title IX with regard to team building, communication skills and leadership. I wish there was a Title IX for teaching girls and women basic home improvement and home maintenance. Of course there's...
How to Create a New Habit?
How do you start a new habit? One idea is to connect to something you already do. This week I had a follow up visit with a patient I am treating for GERD and anxiety. One piece of my recommendations asked her to integrate 5 minutes of deep, focused, full-belly...