The Year by Ella Wheeler Wilcox What can be said in New Year rhymes,That’s not been said a thousand times? The new years come, the old years go,We know we dream, we dream we know. We rise up laughing with the light,We lie down weeping with the night. We hug the world until it stings,We …Read More
Author: Dr. Joel Ying, MD
Physician-Educator-Storyteller. Integrating the power of story into medicine, healing sessions, workshops, speaking and performance.
Winter Solstice ~ Season of Yule
December 21st marks the Winter Solstice. This is the darkest of days — the day with the shortest daylight hours. From here on out, the days get longer. Even in the depth of the winter season, this is the day to celebrate the returning of the light. My friend Janis McCall lives in Scotland where …Read More
Democracy is supported by its people
When asked what to tell people who don’t vote because they don’t feel like their vote matters, Rachel Brown says, “Do more than vote! Not voting is not the answer. Do more than vote.” She encourages her millennial generation to get involved in politics. She herself recently ran for public office. Democracy depends on its …Read More
What really matters
As we come upon the New Year, I reflect on what really matters in life. The ritual of closing the year calls me to slow down and reflect on what has passed — both good and bad. I’m thinking of the meaningful moments: challenges that I have overcome, failures where I get up again with …Read More
Measuring Life
How do you measure a life? “Life is not measured by the breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.” I start the hike in essential silence. What is that you say? It is the space of deep introspection where you can still manage to yell out to your friend, “Don’t …Read More
To Know the Dark ~ Wendell Berry
To Know the Dark by Wendell Berry To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings. I’ve only seen it once, and only by accident. It was …Read More
Release and Renewal ~ Finding Community
One month to go.What do you want to release from 2020? In December of 1979, my parents moved from Jamaica to Florida. Only in retrospect can I look back and honor all that they left behind: the country that they were born in, the close support of family and friends, a business that they had built. However, …Read More
Good Timber ~ Douglas Malloch
Today’s inspiration comes from “The Lumberman’s Poet” as he was affectionately known. Douglas Malloch grew up in Michigan among logging camps and lumber yards. He wrote this poem when he was just a boy. As I scale the mountains and descend into the valleys of life, this poem reminds me that trees (and people) grow …Read More
Attitude of Gratitude ~ Release and Renewal
I am grateful for you. Thank you for your support and encouragement. Every few years, this blog/newsletter undergoes a shift. Here we go again. I feel another one coming. It was more than 5 years ago that I was first captivated by storytelling magic. One person on stage, no props, no special visual effects… just …Read More
Operating Theater
It is a splendor to behold. Hidden in the recessed bowels of the building. Down in the basement. Long halls with windowless rooms. Bright lights. Down here it is always daytime. The operating rooms of the University hospital live in the snaked caverns of the basement. The floors and walls tiled. Industrial cleaners creating a …Read More