NaBloPoMo 2021:  Do Good, Kid

Day 29.  It’s been such a long month that has also flown by.  If you’ve read along all this time, what stands out?  What resonates?  What’s redundant and boring?

I turned 48 this year, 4 cycles of the Chinese zodiac completed.  Looking back at 36, 24, and 12, wow, perspective!  Looking back from March 2020, when we moved all clinical activity remote and shut down all but the most essential operations at work, and pulled together all over work, to now…  So much has changed, and yet we are still us, still doing what we do.  I will find some time to look back on my 5 months away from patients.  Coming back to work has been exactly what I anticipated and also unexpected in many ways. 

“All that you touch You change.  All that you change, Changes you.  The only lasting truth is Change.  God is Change.” –Octavia Butler

I had a list of topics to cover this month.  But each day I ended up writing on an idea that inspired or moved me.  I hit most items on the list, and I can always write later on those still outstanding.  But looking back on 28 days, I’m really happy with what I executed.   Most of the time I set out to write one thing, and inevitably the piece changed to something slightly different.  Fascinating how that happens—and I’m satisfied that the messages are still authentically mine, altered as they were.  I would be happy if the kids looked back on these posts someday and felt encouraged or comforted by them, if they could hear my voice and feel my love.

Look back and learn.  Connect the dots.  See things anew, make new connections; find the light behind the shadows; bring hidden things out into the open.  Reflect with curiosity, humility, respect for your former and future selves.  Acknowledge all those who have helped you along the way, even by challenging or injuring you.  You are the culmination of all of your experiences to date, and then some.  Own it.

Marvel at the journey, take it in.  Be still, get quiet.  Let the reflections shimmer to a smooth surface, or not.  Just allow some space and see what can come.  I think it’s always worth the effort.