Live Virtual Group Session: 6PM EDT September 18th 2023

25 Comments

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this session!

For this session we read a poem “Love After Love ” by Derek Walcott, posted below.

Our prompt was: “Write about finding yourself (again).”

More details will be posted on this session, so check back again!

Participants are warmly encouraged to share what you wrote below (“Leave a Reply”), to keep the conversation going here, bearing in mind that the blog of course is a public space where confidentiality is not assured.

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Please join us for our next session Friday October 6th at 12pm EDT, with more times listed on our Live Virtual Group Sessions.

“Love After Love ” by Derek Walcott

The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

credit: all poetry.com

25 thoughts on “Live Virtual Group Session: 6PM EDT September 18th 2023”

  1. JP's avatar JP

    Writing prompt: write about “finding yourself” again

    Greet myself.

    She was never lost, only monetarily diverted.
    Still likes the same things, the very scents, even.
    Likes AND loves.
    After.
    Warm scents – still the favorite.
    Ocean walks – remain the most.
    Even people. Still attracted in body and soul.
    Same types too… sturdy, self-aware, whole.
    Well, hello again! To the girl who only took a break.
    You’re home.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. Andre F. Lijoi, MD's avatar Andre F. Lijoi, MD

    There was no turning back.
    The date had been set.
    The office had to be emptied.
    They were going to tear down the building
    in a few months anyway.
    It took much longer than expected
    as boxes and stacks of letters emerged
    from drawers and closet shelves.
    So many patient narratives, thankyous,
    and “you have no idea,” and “were the
    trusted parent that was never had.”
    There were yearly updates, Christmas blessings
    and condolences.
    All those years of giving from deep within the heart,
    willing only good for others
    and walking together when the news wasn’t good
    with Medicine as one’s Dulcinea
    it was time to let the heart take you back.

    afl 09_18_23

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    • michele348's avatar michele348

      So many emotions and memories to be packed up and stored away in boxes…even the physical structure is left in rubble to be re-invented. But you only have to pause and remember and it’s all there, fresh and new in your heart.

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    • Elizabeth's avatar Elizabeth

      Andre— while there are a lot of loving memories, there is also a sad intensity in this piece. There was the giving from deep within the heart… Did it feel good or did it take a toll? Also, so curious about the reference to Dulcinea— she was an illusion to Don Quixote… Was medicine a bit of an illusion to the writer? You have given us many references to the heart tonight. Is it the heart that finally takes the writer back to himself?

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      • Andre Lijoi's avatar Andre Lijoi

        Thank you for those great questions, Elizabeth. There came a point where discovering that the foundation of the physician -patient relationship was predicated on willing the good of an other and at that point, the burdens of caring began to lift and did so steadily. Along with that came the understanding that It was not necessary to assume a patient’s suffering to be compassionate. What was most important was that the patient knew someone was walking with them and that most did not want to offload their suffering onto their caregivers. The intrusion of the electronic record and the many other demands were taking the toll, interfering with the work I do.

        Fortunately, I came upon Narrative Medicine which provided the antidote to the toxicity of the health care climate. It affirmed in myself the conviction that when it comes to doctoring I know what I am doing and I can do it at t high level. Medicine has been a very clear opportunity to share gifts I have been given and engage with and help the common humanity before me and while there is a cost it has not been excessive.

        The Dulcinea reference I explain in an essay that I have drafted called Listening to Hearts where I describe teaching students to listen to heart sounds. I close the piece with the comment that while I don’t want my learners to have a Quixotic fantasy I do want medicine to be one of the Dulicneas in their lives, a source of great love and beauty. Sometimes we must keep swinging at the windmill.

        Sometimes we must work to get our heart’s back, sometimes it the work of our hearts to reclaim us.

        Thanks again, Elizabeth.
        Andre

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    • Elizabeth's avatar Elizabeth

      Andre -thanks for sharing your HEARTfelt thoughts in response to my questions. I am often very curious about what’s behind the written pieces that we hear or read in narrative medicine. I’m so glad that you figured out a way to stay in service as a physician while not giving away too much of yourself. This life balance is a constant job, but we humans are up to it. Here’s a blessing —May we be able to do it with ease for many years to come.

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  3. Michele348's avatar Michele348

    About finding yourself (again)~~~

    Life is a process of evolving, a slow and sometimes painful process.
    We start off tentative, maybe waiting in the wings for others to lead… to show us the way.
    As we travel on life’s path, experiences build up our hearts and minds.

    We come to a point of realization of our abilities, our weaknesses, and our beliefs.
    There is a sense of joy in this discovery.
    Although our paths might have been bumpy ones, full of mishaps,
    we made it.. we survived, and we are the better for it.
    Hallelujah!

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    • Elizabeth's avatar Elizabeth

      Michele-I like how you appreciate the good and the bad, the strengths and the weaknesses, etc. They all make us who we are. As a matter of fact, going through the tough times makes us better according to your writing.
      I wonder if the hallelujah at the end is for making it through those times, discovering ourselves, or just offering praise.

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    • al3793's avatar al3793

      Thank you, Lisa. I have a deep sense of gratitude and satisfaction with the career I had…the benefits of sticking it out for 43 years. Now I get to keep helping students and residents discover what they can garner from sticking it out through the bumps and bruises along the way. Andre

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  5. rehavia6's avatar rehavia6

    Write about finding yourself (again)

    I have been reacquainted with me
    Through love missives sent from me to myself
    I have a renewed appreciation of
    The person I have discovered
    And I am liking her.

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