Author Archives: Catherine Cheng, MD

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About Catherine Cheng, MD

I am a general internist in Chicago, Illinois, mother of two, almost native Coloradan, and Northwestern alum. I want to leave the world better for my having lived, by cultivating the best possible relationships between all who know me, and all whom I influence. Join me on this crazy, idealistic, fascinating journey! Look for new posts on the 10th, 20th, and 30th of each month. Opinions posted here are entirely my own, and in no way reflect the opinions or policies of my employer.

Love Notes for Friendship

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How did it take twelve days to come up with this one??
I am surrounded by such amazing people everywhere and I marvel at it every day.
Today was particularly amazing–at the gym, at lunch, over text, and in snail mail.
Our relationships save us, my friends. Let us cultivate them with care and attention.

  1. Age Race Profession Country of origin Religion — Friendship can connect us across all of these boundaries and more, if we let it.

2. From ‘On Friendhip’ — Kahlil Gibran When you part from your friend, you grieve not; for that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.

3. Relationships evolve. Friends may come and go, and come back again. We can welcome and roll with it all. We’re all human. We all change. It’s all okay.

4. It’s not gifts, words, or meals shared, necessarily. It’s presence, I think. Intentional attunement, attention, and resonance to energy. Friendship.

5. Dear friends: Find them, be them: Kind – Generous – Fun – Open – Curious – Empathic – Supportive – Nonjudgmental – Loyal – Honest – Present – Accountable.

6. I wish you friends like I have! And that is the best wish I can ever bestow, because I have the BEST f*ing friends EVER!

7. May your people always be at your elbow and your fingertips, not only when you need their support in struggle, but when you celebrate everything good!

8. We all need that one friend who will show up for us no matter what. No questions. No judgments. ‘Move a body friends,’ I think Brene Brown calls them. Hell yes.

9. Bee butts. Eileen sends me photos when she sees them because she knows how much I love them. May you have at least one bee butt friend.

10. I knoe you’re my friend because you are honest. I know you are honest because you tell me hard truths. And you do it kindly. Like I said, you’re my friend.

11. This is exciting! We just never know when, where, or how we will meet our next great friend! It could be anywhere, anytime! AnyONE! How AWESOME is that!?

12. I think we all need more collage frames to display all of those silly candid photos of friends being silly and joyful together, just being themselves.

144 of 360 completed, friends! And I think this daily dozen project is going well so far! I’m still having fun, and my process efficiency improves by the day. The notes are stacking up, though. Still contemplating what I will do with them all after the month ends! Ideas are welcome! More tomorrow!

Love Notes for Gratitude

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OH but I should wait until Thanksgiving to post this one, right? Oh well, I feel overwhelming gratitude today so I will post this today! The world is better when we express gratitude in real time, no??

What are you grateful for today? How have you already expressed it? How much better is your day, your life, when you do?

With abandon, my friends. Effuse it. Let’s go.

  1. One year I wrote a thank you card a day. It was a centering experience. Maybe I can do it again in the New Year? God knows I have enough CARDS! 😀

2. Thank you for being you, sharing yourself with the rest of us, and not depriving us of the great joy and pleasure of knowing you.

3. Family Friends Teachers Colleagues Good Leaders Kind Strangers — Any human with a kind heart — Thank you all!

4. What is the silliest, most absurd thing that you are really grateful for? I have so many but pretty paper, OMG. Life would just not be as good without it!!

5. Holy COW, so much to be thankful for. And today I feel it especially for all the folks to trust me. What a big privilege and honor.

6. May all of your myriad acts of gratitude be reinforced so you stay motivated to commit them often and with great enthusiasm! More more more please! Thank you!

7. When someone opens up and shares something personal, we need to thank them for it. Because that is an act of bravery and trust, and needs to be acknowledged. Let’s pay attention, k?

8. I think it’s a great idea to always keep on hand paper and pen to write our gratitude down so it is documented and shared. This way it’s amplified and there is more of it in the world.

9. A quarter of this century is almost over! Holy cow! Thank our lucky stars that we are all still here, holding one another up! Let’s keep going, yes?

10. Do you have gratitude rituals? I don’t. But I think practices are more important and easier than rituals… When they are spontaneous and second nature–all the better!

11. I bet you made someone’s life better today and I am grateful for that because it made the world better and that is how we survive the shit show! Thank you!

12. How has gratitude (yours or others’) made your life better today? Wouldn’t it be even better if there were more of it getting tossed around?

Teehee, those came out fast. More where they came from–stay tuned. 🙂

Love Notes for Kindness

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Friend and I shared our stories of stress, struggle, and adversity today. We’d neither planned nor avoided it. The conversation flowed organically in connection and mutual understanding, shared empathy and a desire for each other’s well-being.
Friend reminded me that no matter how we look on the outside, we’re all going through our own things on the inside.
In college I walked to the subway looking apparently unhappy. As I approached a homeless woman on the sidewalk, she said, gesturing to herself and her panhandling spot, “Oh come on, whatever it is, it can’t be as bad as this.” I took it as a sign to be more aware of self and others and grateful for perspective.

So as we begin another work week, let’s see if we can dig a little deeper for that loving kindness, yes?

  1. Every person has our struggles… Most don’t show on the surface, so others likely have no idea. May we take an extra breath before judging, eh?

2. Stick close to the kind people in your life! The best possible outcome is that they rub off on you and the world gets better and better for it! 😀

3. What’s your kindness gesture? I think mine is either hugging or blowing kisses… Or maybe profanity… Or some kind of face… Depends on the situation!

4. That small kindness you were shown just now. Did you notice? Did you acknowledge? Isn’t that just a great practice for connection?

5. Hey hi! Friendly reminder: Being kind definitely includes to yourself! I hope you have many who can keep reminding you – so you never forget!

6. Even people we disagree with and who vote differently from us are actually kind. We can reconcile all of these things – if we ourselves make the kind assumption.

7. What’s an act of big kindness that someone showed you that sticks in your memory? Powerful, no? This is power we all possess and can wield for good!

8. Kindness is love, duh. It’s not flashy, mushy, or headline newsworthy… Or is it? Don’t you feel better when you see stories about it? So let’s go out and love loudly!

9. I’d rather regret being too kind than not kind enough… Sometimes the latter still happens – but less and less. 🙂

10. I think kids are naturally kindn because the innate human trait that seeks connection has not been beaten out of them yet. Be childlike.

11. Food. Stickers. Pretty paper. Whis is how people show me kindness. Oh and quality time. How about you? Who knows this and shows up for you?

12. So many examples of genuine human kindness all over, friends! We can open our eyes and hearts to it all and follow with glorius (and unhinged) abandon!

Trying to keep a little lightness in these love notes from now on. 😉