Tracy Sanson MD - March 2022 Newsletter - Reflection, Peace, & Healing
March Greetings
I begin this month with prayers for peace and healing in my heart.
For Christians, March 2nd marks Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. In the Catholic tradition, accepting ashes on the forehead symbolizes that we are sorry for our wrongdoings and commit to doing better. We take up this commitment in the hopes that we can leave behind what ails our hearts and come to a place of celebration, fellowship, and joy during the Easter season.
As we enter this time of reflection—examining where we have gone wrong, hoping for compassion—I have been thinking of a heartbreaking and powerful poem by Odesa-born Ukrainian poet Ilya Kaminsky.
The poem, which opens Kaminsky’s book “Deaf Republic,” demands that we reflect on our hearts and actions—and refuse complacency.
We Lived Happily During the War
And when they bombed other people’s houses, we
protested
but not enough, we opposed them but not
enough. I was
in my bed, around my bed America
was falling: invisible house by invisible house by invisible house.
I took a chair outside and watched the sun.
In the sixth month
of a disastrous reign in the house of money
in the street of money in the city of money in the country of money,
our great country of money, we (forgive us)
lived happily during the war.
Let this poem unsettle us. Let it remind us that we must not prioritize our own comfort in times of sorrow. In the Poetry Unbound episode featuring this poem, Pádraig Ó Tuama says, “I think the word ‘house’ in this poem plays a function… who do you think is in your household? If only the people in your household are comfortable, is that enough? Who do you imagine is in your broader household?”
As we hope for a time of celebration, peace, and joy, let us imagine our households as broad and encompassing. And let us enter this month with prayers for and actions towards peace—for me, for you, and for the global community in which we are all neighbors.
Around the Web
My life as an ER doctor during Covid: ‘People walk in, throw their garbage at you, and walk out’
“Last year, when 7,411 adults were surveyed, it transpired that healthcare workers were 50% more likely than others to have been harassed, bullied, or hurt as a result of Covid-19. ‘Physicians are unfortunately fighting a two-front war,’ noted Susan R Bailey, the 175th president of the American Medical Association.”
Moving Through Trauma With Poetry
“With curiosity and compassion, Tran explores the contradictions of the healing process, including its nonlinear path and metamorphic nature, and interrogates their own long held ideas about identity and selfhood in order to discover new truths. ‘But the book is about more than this as well,’ Tran continues. ‘At its heart are a set of questions: What does it mean to survive, what does survival look like, and as someone who often feels like a ‘bad survivor,’ can I change what survival looks like and means for me? Can I invent a new definition for survival?”
We Must Learn to Look at Grief, Even When We Want to Run Away
“More than 930,000 Americans have died of Covid-19. Many survivors still suffer from breathlessness, mind fog and debilitating fatigue. Though everyone was ground down by the continuance of the pandemic, we seem stuck in confusing divisiveness. Some people hesitate to see their elderly parents even when everyone is vaccinated, boosted and masked. Others suggest that it’s time to move on and find a new normal. We don’t have to be so divided. My work in palliative medicine offers a way to grapple with what has happened and to return more fully, together, to a world made smaller by who and what we have lost.”
Where to Find Me
From April 2nd to 10th, I’ll be lecturing for Wild Med Adventures Galapagos Tropical CME Adventure.
On May 19th, I’ll be at Central Michigan University for Grand Rounds, and on May 17th, I’ll be speaking at the American College of Emergency Physicians Emergency Department Directors Academy.
Stay in touch
I’d love to know what you’re up to and how you’re doing. Send me an email at hello@tracysansonmd.com or connect on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, or Facebook.
Interested in having me speak at a virtual event or give a remote presentation? Get in touch!
Finally, remember to hug your people this month. March 2022 marks three years since we lost my Mom. Below is a photo of a trip we took together the year before she died, as well as a photo of my Mom and Dad cheering on my girls at a game. I miss them both every day.
Hug your people. Take the trip. Make the phone call. Take the picture. Take time to cherish your loved ones this month.
Love,
Tracy
Mom and Me on a trip four years ago.
Mom and Dad watching my girls play. Miss them both.