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
Author: Dr. Joel Ying, MD
Physician-Educator-Storyteller. Integrating the power of story into medicine, healing sessions, workshops, speaking and performance.
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
Life After Childbirth
In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery?” The other replied, “Why? Of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.” “Nonsense,” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What …Read More
The way out is through the window
“The way out is through the window.” The invisible thought ricocheted in my head and came out as a silent whisper. Mr. Peabody was an 73-year-old in the last stages of death. He was comatose, and I was meeting him for the first time. I was taking over his care as the attending doctor for …Read More
Story: The Creator Rests
What does creativity do when it rests? Minor edits? Little revisions? Take this out, add that. It’s all part of the creative process, but sometimes the pieces we take out create wonderful new stories. Here’s a creative 5-minute story that will inspire kids of all ages (like me) by Jill LamedeThe Tintagel Storytellerwww.Lamede.com
Honor Flight, Honoring Veterans
“This has been the most meaningful day of my life,” said one veteran. At the time, he was 100 years old. Honor Flight had brought him to the World War II Memorial in Washington D.C. He had been chosen by the group to lay the wreath on the memorial to honor those lives that had …Read More
Prayer for Healing
Written 11/2/2020 by Dr. Joel Ying prior to 11/3/2020 U.S. Election Day. Prayer for Healing Post-Election I call upon the resources deep within this nation—the yearning that is in every heart to be free. May the right hand and the left hand see that they are of one body, one beating heart. May we face …Read More
Walking with Your Prayer
“I have walked in the hills and forests with this prayer, whispered it into crystal rocks before casting them into wild flowing water. I say it aloud daily at my altar and silently in meditation at the new and full moon cycles.” ~ Janis McCall When the events of the world seem so big, I …Read More
First time
I nearly fainted. My vision goes gray, a cold sweat comes over me, and my knees buckle. I look for the nearest seat. There in the corner. I hope no one noticed. I’m a new medical student assigned to this patient. The resident said I should watch and see how this is done. This is …Read More
Meditation: Space
Don’t think of a purple elephant! What do you do? … You think of a purple elephant. Let’s use the science of the mind in our favor. What you focus on is what persists. Let’s practice shifting our focus onto space. If your mind goes to the tightness and dense spots, just shift your focus …Read More