Rumi is celebrated for his poems on ecstatic Love. As a Persian poet and Sufi mystic writing in the 13th century, it is surprising that his words can still speak to us nearly 800 years later. However, he is one of the most popular poets in the English-speaking world today partly because of the beautiful …Read More
Author: Dr. Joel Ying, MD
Physician-Educator-Storyteller. Integrating the power of story into medicine, healing sessions, workshops, speaking and performance.
Life Purpose in 5 minutes?
A secret to happiness is … knowing your life purpose. What is your life purpose? Adam Leipzig says that we can figure it out in 5 minutes. (His questions are so simple and yet so profound that I’m re-posting this to my new blog to start off the new year.) Ask yourself these 5 questions. Who …Read More
The Right Honorable Dr. Louise Bennett-Coverley (Miss Lou)
The Right Honorable Dr. Louise Bennett-Coverley was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on September 7, 1919. She died in Ontario, Canada, on July 26, 2006. Her body was flown back to Jamaica to lie in state in the National Arena, and then buried in National Hero’s Park, next to other great heroes and leaders of Jamaica. This …Read More
The Elephant: Stories You’ll Never Forget, 2017
“I haven’t laughed so hard in years…. It was captivating.” After a standing ovation, last year’s sold-out audience raved over the first StorySLAM to come to the Sugden Theatre. Ten local storytellers each gave spellbinding performances. On Monday, April 3rd, 2017, at 7pm the oral tradition of storytelling returns to Sugden Theatre in Naples, Florida, with “The …Read More
Finger Pointing at the Moon
“It’s like a finger pointing a way to the moon. Don’t concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory.” ― Bruce Lee In the movie “Enter the Dragon” (1973), Bruce Lee encounters a young student walking around the temple. They begin to spar, practicing their martial arts training. After sparing, Bruce …Read More
The Power in Vocal Communities
Last summer, I spent a week with my friend Ysaye Barnwell in her annual workshop “Building a Vocal Community” at the Omega Institute. In this workshop singers and non-singers (like I used to be) learn to sing in the oral tradition. (No music to read. No words to read. We learn by listening and repeating.) …Read More
Lessons From Geese
This wisdom from the animal kingdom describes how we can come into greater Presence with each other. What does it mean when someone is there for you? How can we come into deeper relationship with each other? These inspiring observations from the lives of geese demonstrate effective teamwork, community, and leadership. According to one source, “Lessons …Read More
This is Water – David Foster Wallace
There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys, how’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What …Read More
Full Voice – Five Elements of Vocal Presence
Are your unconscious vocal habits keeping you from your full potential? When I first started public speaking, my voice was hidden behind the podium and trapped in my throat. I had no volume and a singing cadence that would put you to sleep. Someone who is now a dear friend (through no fault of her …Read More
Eat Your Greens
Eat your greens! Yuck! It’s pond scum. It’s dark blue-green spiral-shaped algae, harvested from lakes in warm climates, and a nutrient-dense superfood! Yuck! It’s pond scum. It’s good for you. It’s spirulina. Yuck! When I was growing up, one of my cousins (who shall remain nameless, but you know who you are!) … she …Read More