First, I want to say, it was not my idea. It’s common practice, we all did it. You apply to top schools, a couple in the middle tier, and some safety that you know you can get into. We were all graduating from college. I was applying to medical school along with a few others, …Read More
Author: Dr. Joel Ying, MD
Physician-Educator-Storyteller. Integrating the power of story into medicine, healing sessions, workshops, speaking and performance.
Coat of Many Colors ~ Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton grew up in a two-room house with her “momma and daddy” and 11 other siblings. In the backcountry of Tennessee, she will tell you that they had running water… they had to “run and get it.” From the poverty of her early life, you will find the riches of her songs that tell …Read More
Where is your Querencia?
“A querencia is a place the bull naturally wants to go to in the ring, a preferred locality… It is a place which develops in the course of the fight where the bull makes his home. It does not usually show at once, but develops in his brain as the fight goes on. In this place he …Read More
Why incompetent people think they’re amazing
“We don’t know what we don’t know.” Beginner’s Mind When I first discovered the art of storytelling performance, I had beginner’s mind. Here was my process: Pick a story that I like. Learn the story. Tell it. I relied on “natural talent.” Vocal variety, facial expressions, and gestures came naturally to me. Other skills had …Read More
Don’t go back to sleep ~ Rumi
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.Don’t go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want.Don’t go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the doorsillwhere the two worlds touch. The door is round and open.Don’t go back to sleep. ~ Rumi I woke up this morning …Read More
Stories are powerful medicine ~ Regi Carpenter
There was once a young woman whose only son died. Her heart was so heavy with grief that she could not go on. She went to Buddha and asked for a magic potion to take away the grief. “Of course,” said the Buddha, “I just need one small thing. You must bring me a mustard …Read More
Music lifts the weary traveler
Today’s inspiration! Even stuck in an airport, music can lift our spirits… bring us together… and create community… Add some music to your life. Watch this video from 2017.
“Doc, I never drink…”
I was working at Miami Veteran’s Hospital as an intern, wet behind the ears, newly minted physician… and trying to figure out the worlds of my patients. Part of the medical history screens for alcohol abuse. “How much do you drink?” I ask. “Well, every day I buy a case of beer.” Suddenly his face …Read More
Introverts on Stage
When I see people on stage, I used to think. “I can’t do that … but I wish I could.” I think of how lucky the extroverts of the world are. Extroverts have no problem talking in front of people. They get energized by attention and people. I get drained. After two weeks of a …Read More
Photograph ~ Andrea Gibson
“I wish I was a photograph tucked in the corner of your wallet…”~ Andrea Gibson When you ask people about love, they will often tell you about longing and loss. When you ask about triumph, they will inevitably also remember stories of failure. The artist walks right into those stories of pain to find healing, …Read More