Memorial Day
The extent of my Memorial Day celebrating consisted of going to the grocery store for food - but that was mostly out of habit and societal pressure. The day itself had come and gone without any significant consequence and I found myself alone that night listening to music and thinking about the way my day went. Only very briefly remembering that it was memorial day and what that represents. I didn't feel any sense of TRUE gratitude until I was about to doze off...
As I drifted away I suddenly became aware of Dain Venne, whom I will explain shortly. Just after the recollection the thought came back to me of earlier in the grocery store while I was shopping.. "Everyone is here shopping, getting food, making plans, preparing for a feast and I don't know a single person who's actually given their life for this." How ironic, and truth be told, a little bit eerie.
Dain was a guy I knew briefly in my early 20s.. We had spent some time in the same region of NY before and we had the same Mexican History instructor during one of my brief in-periods at College. We made it through the semester together and got to know each other along the way.
From my perspective the most prominent thing I can remember about Dain is that he had a very real zest for getting involved in things. He was always the guy to speak his mind, put down his cards and show everyone what he had. I always admired that about him. Halfway through the semester it became known that he was on active duty.
After some homework assignments and a few tests later I got around to asking him about what made him join the service. He told me that after 9/11 he got pretty fired up. Basically got hit with the bug and enlisted to serve his country. This made sense to me and always seemed just a little bit cooler than going to college. In any case our paths crossed briefly but then separated. It wasn't until Nursing school for me that I had heard anything about him, and unfortunately the news wasn't good.
It had been about four years since I saw him, but it still put me back a bit to hear that Dain was Killed in Action. It was shocking and (in it's own way) carried a great sadness to me. He was truly a larger than life kind of person in my eyes - and fully unique - someone people could look toward... and someone who absolutely didn't deserve to have life cut short. Later on I heard there were anti-war protesters at his funeral. (This is something I'm not sure I'll ever understand - and in truth I'm not sure I even want to.)
I knew Dain for only about 4 months but it took much less than that for him to make a mark on my life. Believe me when I say this guy was cool. He was friendly, funny, smart, engaging and always brought life to the situation. A person you could look up to in the most real sense of the concept.
It's a tough situation, how the world is. The way we do things, the way we handle opposition... As I write the end of this, reflecting on my time with Dain, I offer my gratitude and appreciation for his sacrifice. To A good buddy from Mexican History and someone whom I believe to have found their true will - And for the countless amount of others who have been loved and lost during the course of their duty:
Rest in Peace - I love ya, man.
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My dad was in the Air force so I grew up with a lot of the history channel, I've gotten more than an earful on the Kennedy assassination, and there were many war movies that got watched... Here are some thoughts on a couple of my favorites - WARNING - these clips contain spoilers and if you haven't seen them I would suggest not watching what I'm about to talk about. Hurt Locker, Patton and Saving Private Ryan.
Patton - "Always Me."
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The caduceus is an ancient symbol representing the balance between Universal Forces
This awesome blog server will not let me upload any more movies because I've apparently reached my limit. That's not going to stop me though from sharing my thoughts on this symbol, what I believe it represents, and how it can help you as a HEALTHCARE worker.
So we have a stave with wings protruding, a visible bulb on the very top, and two serpents intertwined around the stave. There are a lot of interpretations and different lineages that can explain the symbolism but I'm going to tell you about what I have learned and personally believe.
In it's simplest form this symbol represents duality in life. The stave represents equilibrium, the wings represent the celestial / (angelic?) / sovereign and higher power that governs over our lives. The bulb on the top represents the closed system / the ONE true singularity that is behind everything. The serpents represent the duality that is occurring in the world we find ourselves in. Serpents are also a symbol of wisdom...
We find ourselves in a world of duality / opposites - and in healthcare especially, there is a constant battle between what we can do to promote health / wellness, have a healing effect on people, promote the sanctity of life, etc and what we are powerless against (ie. death, sickness, other people's attitudes and wishes, disease process, etc.) The trick is to strive toward a place of balance between these two.
I think it's important to stress that neither side is any better or worse than the other, and both sides are actually quite essential for the ongoing forward movement through life that we enjoy so much. It's important to remember that although we do what we can, we can ONLY do the best we can - there are aspects and powers in life that are completely out of our control and it's okay to take some relief in that. Don't you feel a sense of relief when you realize that it's not YOUR job to control EVERYTHING? Simply put - do the best you can. All you need to do is all you're able to do. This can be very liberating.
No matter how advanced healthcare gets - it all comes down to this concept. All we can do (As outlined in the Doctor's Creed) - is Do No Harm, Prevent illness as best we can, and Promote wellness as best we can.
Sooooo...
Whenever you're having a bad day or are unsure about your place in Healthcare just go back to this symbol and remember what it means. I can tell you from personal experience that going back to this symbol has helped me many times in the past. I'm sure it can serve you as well.
"I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug." - One of my favorite parts of the Hippocratic Oath.
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Bye Guys
Classic
*New* Beach Fossils
Until Next Time! : p
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