Notes on life, philosophy, and medicine

How does one find peace and joy in the midst of suffering or trouble?  Does the recognition and acceptance of trouble and suffering as a part of life allow it to be embraced?  In happy times and in sad/distraught times, still we can exert JOY?  These dichotomous ideas  Neither good nor bad  But it must be rooted in our ancestors, rooted in our connectedness and loving embrace of something bigger than ourselves, something that loves us infinitely and is stable without fail.  It must be acknowledged that it exists presently.  The sun that we breathe in and is a part of us as much as we a part of it, the water that flows through us not for our own selfish sake but for the sake of this greater being that is in us and moves through us. The ground beneath us that is solid.  This is our reckoning. This is what we must recognize...to hold within our hearts both the suffering and the joy.  We must trust that we can lay it down on solid ground and embrace the gift of our day.   

What does health look like? And how do we "get" healthy?  I became an osteopathic physician because I believe fundamentally in a body that was created with an inordinate amount of built-in healing mechanisms.  It is my job to help it along, to guide it when it has moved too far in one direction.  But it's not only my job, because healthy to me, looks like an entire community working together to enjoy, and to build on this life we were given.  And I believe we have spent the last couple of generations moving farther and farther away from our ability to do this for ourselves and for each other.  So, what do we do now?  Focus on food: how do we make it, where does it come from, how do we get it, how do we grow it? how do we cook it? where are all the herbs? FOOD IS MEDICINE.  Focus on community - the people involved from the farmer to the miller to the baker.  Focus on earth and all her many gifts.