“There is one thing that all of us are going to experience, and that is death,” wrote my friend, Kate McKinnon, in her recent newsletter, “Most people, including myself, find this an uncomfortable thought, with good reason. However, there is a growing movement of people meeting to talk about death and break through the taboo …Read More
Author: Dr. Joel Ying, MD
Physician-Educator-Storyteller. Integrating the power of story into medicine, healing sessions, workshops, speaking and performance.
Awake My Soul ~ Mumford & Sons
Sometimes a song comes to you just when you need it, you latch onto the words that you need and they repeat over and over an endless chorus in your head inspiring you to new heights. In my head, the monotonous grind of daily life was starting to wear me down as I anticipated the …Read More
Welcome Home
It had been 8 years since I returned to Jamaica, the country where I was born and lived until 6 years old. I had never been away for that long. Even after moving to Florida, my parents would send my brother and me to spend summers with our grandmother. Each year, the extended family would …Read More
Sacrifice and Joy ~ Medical Residency
At a Veterans’ Day event a few years ago, a soldier explained that she was from a military family with three generations of service. She herself joined the army and served as a medic, training as a physician’s assistant. Her two brothers served in the army and marines; she had cousins that served in other …Read More
You want to live ~ David Whyte
…if you wantedto drown you could,but you don’tbecause finallyafter all this struggleand all these yearsyou simply don’t want toany moreyou’ve simply had enoughof drowningand you want to live and youwant to love and you willwalk across any territoryand any darknesshowever fluid and howeverdangerous… ~ David Whyte, “Truelove” In 2013, I went to Hawaii for vacation …Read More
A Single Candle ~ Buddhist Parable
Today’s inspiration is a parable sent to me by a friend. A parable is short story that illustrates a deeper truth through everyday metaphors. I don’t know the exact origin of the story, but it is adapted from ancient teachings of Buddhist philosophy. The wisdom inspires me today with a reason to embody the words …Read More
The Moth ~ I Got It From My Mama
9.4 … 9.5 … 7.0 I had no expectations of winning. Well, not until the first two scores. 9.5 is a really good score on a 10 point scale. Then, I met the harsh reality of audience. You can’t please all the people all the time, but … I still try. Who is in the …Read More
FGCU Storytelling Conference ~ June 5-7, 2026
I just wasn’t curious. My dad passed away last year, and I realized the many things that I just never thought to ask. How do you make that special seasoning that you put on everything? What did you want to be when you were growing up? What were your school days like? What was it …Read More
Storytelling Medicine: a new podcast
Every semester, I have the pleasure of teaching an undergraduate course called “Storytelling as Healing.” Twenty students enter the classroom as apprehensive strangers. They leave as a community. “I feel as if I am taking a piece of each of you with me from your stories,” said one of the students this semester. This is …Read More
New Technology, Simply Complicated
New technology? There was a time when I loved complicated machines and computer programs; learning to master them gave my pre-teen brain a hit of dopamine. Look what I can do! But then something switched; I’m trying to put my finger on the moment that it happened. Analog dials suddenly became so much more attractive …Read More