Happy New Year - 2014

Diana Nyad set a world record in 2013 as the first person to complete a 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida in just under 53 hours.  She is 64 years old.

This was her 5th attempt.  She swam without a shark cage, exposed to venomous jelly-fish, fighting against dehydration and throat constriction and hallucinations, and in the blackest of black darkness.  One stroke after the next.  She kept singing to her favorite songs, she kept moving forward.  No matter what.  Her mantra: "Find a way."

What an incredible woman.  And by far THE best story of 2013.

"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as 

what you become by achieving your goals."

- Henry David Thoreau

Peace to you all.

SM

Aspen in Summer

Now that it's winter and I'm in Ohio, here is where my thoughts are 99% of the day:

Aspen is well-known for its winter season thrills, but it's also an equally beautiful place to visit in the Colorado summer.  Vast swaths of gorgeous mountain wildflowers, endless firs, pines, aspens, crisp clear air, and of course the beautiful backdrop of the Rockies.  What more can one possibly ask for???

"Dedications", Adrienne Rich

Happy Post-Thanksgiving!  And whatever else has happened since my last post, which seems like too long ago.  But, then again, even yesterday seems like long ago...all of time seems to be passing at the speed of molasses for me lately.  Days feel like weeks, weeks feel like months, and months feel like years.  Life is being lived in painful, dragging out, slow-motion.  Of course, in true Sona fashion, I am doing all I can to change this as soon as possible.  Until then, however, one of my tricks to surviving such phases in life is POETRY.  Here's another of my favorites, from the great Adrienne Rich.


Dedications

I know you are reading this poem
late, before leaving your office
of the one intense yellow lamp-spot and the darkening window

in the lassitude of a building faded to quiet
long after rush-hour.     I know you are reading this poem

standing up in a bookstore far from the ocean
on a grey day of early spring, faint flakes driven
across the plains' enormous spaces around you
I know you are reading this poem
in a room where too much has happened for you to bear

where the bedclothes lie in stagnant coils on the bed
and the open valise speaks of flight
but you cannot leave yet.
             I know you are reading this poem
as the underground train loses momentum and before
             running up the stairs
toward to new kind of love
your life has never allowed.

I know you are reading this poem by the light
of the television screen where soundless images jerk and slide
while you wait for the newscast from the intifada
I know you are reading this poem in a waiting room
of eyes met and unmeeting, of identity with strangers.
I know you are reading this poem by a fluorescent light
in the boredom and fatigue of the young who are counted out,
count themselves out, and too early an age.      I know
you are reading this poem through your failing
              sight, the thick
lens enlarging these letters beyond all meaning
              yet you read on
because even the alphabet is precious.
I know you are reading this poem as you pace beside the stove
warming milk, a crying child on your shoulder, a book
in your hand
because life is short and you too are thirsty.

I know you are reading this poem which is not in your language,
guessing at some words while others keep you reading
and I want to know which words they are.
I know you are reading this poem listening for
            something, torn between bitterness and hope
turning back once again to the task you cannot refuse.
I know you are reading this poem because there
            is nothing else left to read
there where you have landed, stripped as you are.



Peace to you all.
SM

"The Laughing Heart" - Charles Bukowski

And now for some poetry.

The Laughing Heart
by Charles Bukowski

your life is your life
don't let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can't beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.

Physics & Life

Here is a great quote from the physicist Arthur Eddington:

"If ever the physicist solves the problem of the living body, he should no longer be tempted to point to his result and say ‘That’s you.’  He should say rather ‘That is the aggregation of symbols which stands for you in my description and explanation of those of your properties which I can observe and measure.  If you claim a deeper insight into your own nature by which you can interpret these symbols—a more intimate knowledge of the reality which I can only deal with by symbolism—you can rest assured that I have no rival interpretation to propose.  The skeleton is the contribution of physics to the solution of the Problem of Experience; from the clothing of the skeleton it (physics) stands aloof.”  --(Quantum Questions, Wilber, p. 194)

Do you agree?  Is physics limited in how deeply it can go towards understanding who we really are, the nature of consciousness, the underlying truth of Reality?


Peace to you all.
SM

A Favorite Person: Christopher Hitchens

It's unfortunate that a man like Mr. Hitchens was remembered more in the mainstream media as a "polarizing figure" or "outspoken atheist" (he was the author of the book God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything).  He may have been these things, but they aren't necessarily what made him extraordinary.  Most people who admire language, good writing, and clear thinking have fantasies of using those talents to neatly and effectively annihilate the vast overabundance of inconsistent logic, blind faith, and vulgar stupidity in this world.  Well... Christopher Hitchens LIVED that fantasy in real life.  And he did a damn good job at it.

Few writers of recent years, I think, have come close to matching his precision with language and his careful use of wit.  Taking it a step further, he used these talents to display some of the best rhetorical and debate skills in the world.  But whether he was systematically deconstructing absurd arguments of his opponents, or vehemently speaking out against some form of irrational belief, or happily conversing about the pleasures of scotch drinking (he was known to be an alcohol aficionado -- a trait that unfortunately led to his diagnosis of terminal esophageal cancer and his eventual death in 2011) -- he did so with a fervent and undying commitment to ethical and moral consistency.  His main concern was always:

How can we use our intellect -- NOT belief or irrationality -- to maximize well-being in this world?

Yes he was outspoken and harsh.  Some times you have to be when you're up against incredible absurdity and widespread lack of rationality that defines our current society.

Here is a great video of "Hitch" systematically deconstructing the Ten Commandments.  Put aside his pretentiousness for a moment and really listen to what he is saying.  Anyone with any respect for intellect would not be able to argue much here.  The best part are his revisions to the commandments -- updated for the modern era.  Watch the video and then ask yourself: how much better would this world be if we all did away with the old and instead adopted the MODERN commandments?

Finally, have a listen to the closing remarks from one of Hitch's final debates before his death.  Tell me you aren't inspired or filled with awe.  I wish there were more people in the world like this man: using intellect and knowledge to fight fear and abolish mental imprisonment -- and provide a rational foundation for an ethical society and maximal well-being.

"Take the risk of thinking for yourself.  Much more happiness, truth, beauty, and wisdom will come to you that way."  - Christopher Hitchens

Here's a good summary of his views in a touching tribute put together for the 2012 Global Atheist Conference.

Peace to you all.

SM

Pike's Peak

Me with my bro.  At more than 14,000 feet we truly felt like we were on top of the world!

Joseph Brodsky

Lately I've come across the life and works of Joseph Brodsky.  What strikes me the most is that he is the quintessential "self-made man."  He rose from poverty and marginalization in a harsh authoritative society to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1987.  All through self-education and a bit of perseverance.

He battled constant hunger throughout his childhood, watching his parents and siblings almost die from it.  Then he quit school at age 15 and found his way through his early life via a series of menial jobs - none of which provided much sustenance or certainty.  In this same period, he embarked on an amazing task of self-education, reading poets such as Donne and Milosz on his own.  He always stayed true to his individuality and passion for poetry.  This undoubtedly disturbed the Soviet authorities where he lived and he was soon arrested, publicly humiliated and ridiculed, and sentenced to 5 years of hard labor.  He sustained himself through all of his hardships through poetry.  That resonates very well with me.  Although he only served 18 months of his sentence before making his way to the United States, the struggles of his early life shaped his persona and creative philosophy for the rest of his career.  He became a distinguished professor and many American universities and a prolific writer.

He was invited to give the Commencement Speech at the University of Michigan in 1988.  Humbly, the title of his speech is simply "SOME TIPS."

Here are some highlights of the "tips" he gave the students that day.  Keep in mind these lessons are coming from a self-made man who, in his life, saw more of hardship than of happiness.

"Now and in the time to be, I think it will pay for you to zero in on being precise with your language.... The purpose here is to enable you to articulate yourselves as fully and precisely as possible; in a word, the purpose is your balance."

"Now and in the time to be, try to be kind to your parents.... All I am trying to say is try not to rebel against them, for, in all likelihood, they will die before you do so you can spare yourselves at least this source of guilt if not of grief.  If you must rebel, rebel against those who are not so easily hurt."

"At all costs try to avoid granting yourself the status of victim.... The moment that you place blame somewhere, you undermine your resolve to change anything."

"On the whole, try to respect life not only for its amenities but for its hardships too.  They are a part of the game, and what's good about a hardship is that it is not a deception.  Whenever you are in trouble, in some scrape, on the verge of despair or in despair, remember: that's life speaking to you in the only language it knows well.  In other words, try to be a little masochistic: without a touch of masochism, the meaning of life is not complete."

"Try not to pay attention to those who will try to make life miserable for you.  There will be a lot of those -- in the official capacity as well as the self-appointed.  Suffer them if you can't escape them, but once you have steered clear of them, give them the shortest shrift possible.  Above all, try to avoid telling stories about the unjust treatment you received at their hands; avoid it no matter how receptive your audience might be.  Tales of this sort extend the existence of your antagonists; most likely they are counting on your being talkative and relating your experience to others.  By himself, no individual is worth an exercise in injustice (or for that matter justice).  The ratio of one-to-one doesn't justify the effort: it's the echo that counts.  That's the main principle of any oppressor, whether state-sponsored or autodidact.  Therefore, steal, or still, the echo, so that you don't allow an event, however unpleasant or momentous,  to claim any more time than it took for it to occur."

"Now this solution is not likely to please angels, but, then again, it's bound to hurt demons, and for the moment, that's all that really matters."


Peace to you all.

SM

Returning to the Essentials

Well, it is now nearing the end of 2013, and 2009 seems like a really long time ago.  Residency and fellowship came and went.  Along with a lot of growing and changing.  I am not the same person I was only 6 years ago.  I like to think I am wiser, better, stronger, but I also know that with age and experience comes cynicism.  Hopefully I can accept that but focus on getting better and better each day.

I was inspired to revisit and reinvigorate this blog by the recent passing of a close friend's wife after a long battle with breast cancer.  She was a great person, an inspirational role model for many people in my medical school, and a tireless advocate for bringing in more poetry and humanism into medicine.  I was deeply saddened by her passing, and only now came to discover that she had been keeping a blog during her last year in hospice.  As I read her entries, I was touched, humbled, and reminded of the power of writing and poetry.  Everyone who fights illness is given a unique perspective on life.  But a physician who then becomes a patient is truly a special circumstance.  I hope her family will preserve her blog for posterity.  There is a lot of wisdom and beauty in it for all to soak in.

So, to commemorate her life and passion for poetry and finding meaning in life, I will return to those same passions myself.  It's been a long time!  But it's good to be back.