Labyrinth Wisdom

When you step into a labyrinth,

Even the air that hovers above is different.

Still and fresh,

it fills

heart and lungs

with renewal.

Pumping and respiring

Arteries and alveoli

Vigorously awakened

Alert and alive  

 

The labyrinth has much to teach:

Trust in the path before you.

Don’t look too far ahead.

 

Narrow confines are there not to constrict, but to embrace, your journey

 

Solitary can also be communal

Communal can also be solitary

 

The noise in life comes with a volume button: we just have to use it

The beauty in life also comes with a volume button: we just have to use it

 

I had a wonderful invitation from Peter and Deirdre to visit a labyrinth in the Bosque recently. I was curious, as the location they described was within a few strides of trails that I frequently run. They guided me to the location. The noise of I-40 rumbled in the background, but suddenly seemed far away. I played with the volume nob like a toddler, excited to see that I could attenuate (toddler speak for "change") the noise level. 

I was amazed at this gem that I had never seen despite its proximity to where I move. How had I missed it all these years? Life is often like that – we scurry past the “gems” at a speed that makes it easy to miss them.

It also struck me, as I labyrinthed with them, to be open to new insights and learning even with things we feel confident that we know well. Here was a patch of earth that I run more than just about any other, with only 100 yards of Bosque between river and acequia and yet I had no idea the labyrinth existed.

Peter and Deirdre, thank you for the adventure and learning! Labyrinth on!

Norty

A few weeks ago, I had a chance to sit with a dear mentor of mine, Dr. Norty Kalishman.

Norty is one of those people who has done it all – protested injustices, sat on non-profit boards, helped to lead a charitable foundation and lots of things he probably hasn’t told me about. He did all of this while serving his communities as a primary care physician, including a stint where helped lead the New Mexico Department of Health. 

These days, he balances all of the activism with retirement, enjoying life with his wife Summers, gardening, and being an amazing grandparent.

But it was something he asked at the end of the meeting, a seemingly inconsequential question, that caught me off guard.

“Should I send things to your AMSA email?”

I paused in hearing this. Stunned, to be honest.

AMSA stands for the American Medical Student Association, and I was a student leader in AMSA in 2007, trying to address the troubling presence of for-profit interests (e.g. drug companies) in medical education. They even gave me an AMSA email. (Hey, as a medical student, small gifts like this are amazing, as you try to tread water and stay afloat.)

I hadn’t heard those letters in a long time.

That question made me realize how long Norty had been in my life, encouraging and guiding me.

In fact, I recall now that when I came to Albuquerque as an east coast medical student in 2007, a UNM student had given me a few names of community-oriented, radical, activist physicians that I needed to meet.

Norty, meeting all of the above criteria, was on this short list. He had literally helped to welcome me to Burque and this Enchanted Land.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As life speeds ahead, often at a dizzying pace, it can be a sort of amnesia, making it hard to remember the people who have poured into us over years and decades.

Surely, you have people like Norty in your life. 

Take a few moments this week to reflect on the people who have guided your path. Write one of them a letter, give one of them a call, and if they are no longer walking in this life with us, remember them in a way that is meaningful. Let your Nortys know that you are grateful for them.

Norty, thank you for asking the question, and in doing so, helping me to remember. 

Thank you for guiding me these last two decades. 

Thank you for unconditional love and friendship. 

I hope to be like you when I grow up.

p.s. I will share an editorial he co-authored in March on child well-being. Click here