6.20.2012

CPE Odds and Ends

Not surprisingly, I'm neither rested nor coherent enough for a full post. (I have one brewing, though, so stay tuned.)  A few bullets in the meantime:

  • I keep noticing how unsurprising tragedy is to me.  Horrifying and heartbreaking, yes.  Surprising, no.  This is not something I tell patients or their families.  It's also something I feel rather alone in.
  • I AM surprised by how many things from which people recover. 
  • I could really use some friend time, but I'm tired and afraid that I'm using all my verbal-filter energy at work.  *sigh*
  • As someone who's always planning the next thing, I've been surprised and satisfied by how that's not at all the case when I'm with a patient.  I'm not sure why this is where I'm able to focus, but it's been wonderful.
  • I feel so, so strongly that literature is a precious springboard to ministry.  I'm reading Dickens' Hard Times in my spare time.  It's not his best, but it's worthwhile.
  • Some people's lives seem a lot simpler to me.  Not easy, mind you, but simpler.  I'm conscious of feeling more on the fringes lately.
That's all for now.  

10 comments:

  1. Unsurprising tragedy. Yes.

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    1. Charlotte, it makes sense to me that you know this.

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  2. I too can find recovery amazing... Maybe that helps in seeing healing as a mystical thing which requires hope and prayer

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    1. Does that work for you? There are too many times that healing doesn't happen for me to feel like I can link it to hope and prayer.

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    2. Di... Healing happens all the time. The body fights off things that could kill us without us even being aware.

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    3. And yes there are countless examples of healing that does not happen no matter how much hope we send out into the world, but that just makes the healing that does occur more mystical.

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  3. Di, I had a whole long explanation of why I find it unsurprising, but it didn't really make sense once I typed it out. I think if you (successfully ?) live with tragedy, it's not really any different from any other aspect of life, and therefore...unsurprising.

    Beatrice and I were talking about this and how it relates or doesn't, to being a military brat.

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  4. Most people are arrested at the tragedy and can't think around/past it. If you live with it, it's not that it's no longer sad, or tragic. The deep sadness is a part of you, but God-willing, not the most prominent.

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  5. I can understand not being up for a longer post right now! I remember CPU as exhausting.

    Your short bullets have a lot to ponder in them. I don't find tragedy unsurprising much any more. It possibly has to do with how long I've been hearing stories....

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  6. Catherine9:48 AM

    Am constantly surprised at the tragedies that don't occur. Not sure if that makes me more of a pessimist or optimist, but it does make me less surprised when they do occur. Thought provoking bullets!

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"So keep fightin' for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't you forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin' ass and celebratin' the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was."
-Saint Molly Ivins