“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, …Read More
Author: Dr. Joel Ying, MD
Physician-Educator-Storyteller. Integrating the power of story into medicine, healing sessions, workshops, speaking and performance.
Brene Brown on Wholehearted Living
“Connection is why we are here. It gives meaning and purpose to our lives.” Brene Brown is a “researcher-storyteller” that studies human connection. She collects stories as her data. The goal of science is to understand, control, and predict the world. Science loves certainty. As a child, I loved the natural sciences. I loved exploring the …Read More
“On Being” by Krista Tippett
What does it mean to be human? and how do we want to live? —OnBeing.org On Being is a public radio conversation and podcast that explores these questions that are at the center of human life. As host and executive producer, Krista Tippett is a master at the art of the interview. She bring questions …Read More
Too Small For You
“Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your alonenessto learnanything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you.”—David Whyte, excerpt from “Sweet Darkness” In an earlier career as a naturalist guide in the Galapagos Islands, David Whyte tells us that he returned to poetry because the scientific language …Read More
“Reclaiming Your Body” by Suzanne Scurlock-Durana
“The body has a language that is older and more primal than most of us realize. Our bodies speak to us with sensations, images, emotions, and an inner knowing that is beyond words.” Suzanne Scurlock-Durana begins Chapter 1 with this sentence in her newly released book, Reclaiming Your Body: Healing from Trauma and Awakening Your Body’s …Read More
Let Your Light Shine
OUR DEEPEST FEAR —by Marianne Williamson Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? …Read More
“When Love Arrives”
“At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.” — Plato There is perhaps nothing that inspires poetry more than love … or love lost. How can we be more present to love? Opening to love as it enters? And opening to love again when it leaves? Love arrives exactly when Love is supposed to …Read More
“Desiderata” by Max Ehrmann
In a modern world of “noise and haste,” these simple words slow us down to offer the profound wisdom to “strive to be happy.” This inspirational prose poem and philosophy of life was written by Max Ehrmann in 1927. Wisdom is timeless. May the “Desiderata” inspire you as it inspires me. Go placidly amid the …Read More
Resilience and Post-Traumatic Growth
“People act strange around death. There are those who talk about everything but the person who died. Those who talk about only the person who died. Those who try to cheer you up. And those who can’t help but make you cry. And then there are those who say nothing at all because they don’t …Read More
“Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver
There are doctors, medicines, and even machines that have saved lives. And then there are the poets, like Mary Oliver, who have saved souls. She is so deeply present in her poetry that she invites us into presence with her. Growing up in a difficult home, nature became her mother, her teacher, and her mentor. …Read More