[AnnieB3]

I have a BS in Art Education and a Masters in Design. I was going to be a biochemist but must've taken a wrong turn at the large Univ. I went to! I think that the reason I've been able to figure out things like my B12 deficiency back in 1999 was that I had a creative background. I learned how to use both sides of my brain and integrate them to be a better problem solver. And what my Professor liked to call Associative Thinking. I honestly believe that is a main reason why so many doctors don't do as well as they could. They are stuck in the left brain!

You guys are open-minded and quite creative in lots of different ways, from what you've written here. I appreciate all kinds of creativity. And for those of you who think you can't be creative, you just haven't tried. Or you can't "see" that you are. None of us are born creative unless we are geniuses. It just takes practice.

Alice, You wanted to read a poem. I have not shared ANY of my book but I thought I'd share this poem. It's the final one in the book. It wraps up how I feel about doctoring and what I hope doctors will learn from it. And I want to emphasize again that I have only used my own experiences and those of my family in the book - I have not used anything from you guys or this forum! It's against the rules of the forum, yes. But more importantly, when you write a book, you need to draw on what YOU have experienced. Not that you guys don't have great stories but they are YOURS to tell.

I hope you guys feel like sharing what you like to create, whether that's children, food, music or anything else. This is a hard thing for me to share. I'm so critical of myself, so go easy! I think being creative may be a key to overcoming life with an illness like MG. Like figuring out how to make it through the day without wearing yourself out. Using paper plates when you are too tired. Having chairs everywhere to sit down on. Doing errands early in the day when you're less worn out. Seeing neuros in the afternoon so they can see how bad you are! Stuff like that. I know there are so many other things that keep us going, like faith, but our minds are so useful when we try to "see" things in different ways.


Ode to Doctors
By Annie

Learn to love wrinkles
Not only the young;
Make peace with endings
Not only what’s begun.

Question your motives
Then answer them too;
Learn what you don’t know
Pass on what you do.

Act like you want
All patients to get well;
Don’t red-flag or drop them
Or blacklist them towards hell.

Talk about your mistakes,
Apologetic and sincere;
Most of us will be grateful
Some may even cheer.

I know you aren’t all
Villains, mobsters and such;
Some are princes among frogs
With no time to kiss much.

I know that it’s hard
Acting like you’re a God;
So come down off the pedestal,
Your patients will applaud.

Look for the cheese
Not only the mold;
Do what seems right
Not only what you’re told.

See what you don’t,
Not only what you do;
Diagnose the invisible
Not only what has a clue.

And when you screw up,
And you know that you will,
Don’t reach for the blame,
Or a lie or a pill.

Diagnose before pills,
Think before ever doing,
Caution never kills,
And patience is worth pursuing.

And when you feel jaded
Take time to think;
About living with a disease
Because having one stinks.

Tell your boss what you want
And all things that you need;
For the sake of your patients
Go ahead and plead.

When you write patient notes
Remember what you say,
Can hurt more than mistakes
And the damage is here to stay.

Learn to love knowledge,
Not only what you know;
Open wide your mind
And let your heart show.

Learn how to be creative
Setting your entire brain free;
Problems will be fewer
Making solutions easy to see.

At the end of each day
Take some time to reflect;
Be grateful for what’s right,
And rectify what’s incorrect.

Put away your doctor toys,
That means the lawyers too;
Take some time off to play
To begin the next day anew.

Maybe then you will know
And even possibly agree;
Doctoring isn’t about diseases
But the patients you see.

[suev]

Annie!

I loved your poem !! You must let us know when you are published so I can order book!

And if not printed yet, please think about incorporating some of your fabulous pumpkin carving pictures - - be it on the cover or near your poems for an even greater effect!!

You are a very talented 'fully brained' lady, darlin' !!!

Sue

[AnnieB3]

Thanks, Sue, but I am interested in what makes you want to create! Or what it is you create!!! And, yes, there are some pumpkins in one chapter.

The book is almost done but the hard part is what I'm doing now. Putting in photos. Editing. Putting all the research in files, etc. I have no idea if it'll be published. I'll figure that out one way or another. It was mainly a cathartic thing for me, having gone through so much medical crap/doctoring.

I also think one's ability to be creative must increase relative to the decrease in your quality of life.

[alice md]

Originally Posted by AnnieB3

I have a BS in Art Education and a Masters in Design. I was going to be a biochemist but must've taken a wrong turn at the large Univ. I went to! I think that the reason I've been able to figure out things like my B12 deficiency back in 1999 was that I had a creative background. I learned how to use both sides of my brain and integrate them to be a better problem solver. And what my Professor liked to call Associative Thinking. I honestly believe that is a main reason why so many doctors don't do as well as they could. They are stuck in the left brain!

You guys are open-minded and quite creative in lots of different ways, from what you've written here. I appreciate all kinds of creativity. And for those of you who think you can't be creative, you just haven't tried. Or you can't "see" that you are. None of us are born creative unless we are geniuses. It just takes practice.

Alice, You wanted to read a poem. I have not shared ANY of my book but I thought I'd share this poem. It's the final one in the book. It wraps up how I feel about doctoring and what I hope doctors will learn from it. And I want to emphasize again that I have only used my own experiences and those of my family in the book - I have not used anything from you guys or this forum! It's against the rules of the forum, yes. But more importantly, when you write a book, you need to draw on what YOU have experienced. Not that you guys don't have great stories but they are YOURS to tell.

I hope you guys feel like sharing what you like to create, whether that's children, food, music or anything else. This is a hard thing for me to share. I'm so critical of myself, so go easy! I think being creative may be a key to overcoming life with an illness like MG. Like figuring out how to make it through the day without wearing yourself out. Using paper plates when you are too tired. Having chairs everywhere to sit down on. Doing errands early in the day when you're less worn out. Seeing neuros in the afternoon so they can see how bad you are! Stuff like that. I know there are so many other things that keep us going, like faith, but our minds are so useful when we try to "see" things in different ways.


Ode to Doctors
By Annie

Learn to love wrinkles
Not only the young;
Make peace with endings
Not only what’s begun.

Question your motives
Then answer them too;
Learn what you don’t know
Pass on what you do.

Act like you want
All patients to get well;
Don’t red-flag or drop them
Or blacklist them towards hell.

Talk about your mistakes,
Apologetic and sincere;
Most of us will be grateful
Some may even cheer.

I know you aren’t all
Villains, mobsters and such;
Some are princes among frogs
With no time to kiss much.

I know that it’s hard
Acting like you’re a God;
So come down off the pedestal,
Your patients will applaud.

Look for the cheese
Not only the mold;
Do what seems right
Not only what you’re told.

See what you don’t,
Not only what you do;
Diagnose the invisible
Not only what has a clue.

And when you screw up,
And you know that you will,
Don’t reach for the blame,
Or a lie or a pill.

Diagnose before pills,
Think before ever doing,
Caution never kills,
And patience is worth pursuing.

And when you feel jaded
Take time to think;
About living with a disease
Because having one stinks.

Tell your boss what you want
And all things that you need;
For the sake of your patients
Go ahead and plead.

When you write patient notes
Remember what you say,
Can hurt more than mistakes
And the damage is here to stay.

Learn to love knowledge,
Not only what you know;
Open wide your mind
And let your heart show.

Learn how to be creative
Setting your entire brain free;
Problems will be fewer
Making solutions easy to see.

At the end of each day
Take some time to reflect;
Be grateful for what’s right,
And rectify what’s incorrect.

Put away your doctor toys,
That means the lawyers too;
Take some time off to play
To begin the next day anew.

Maybe then you will know
And even possibly agree;
Doctoring isn’t about diseases
But the patients you see.

Annie,

I don't know what to say, I just don't have the right words. maybe that every med. student should be given you poem, on the first day of his/her training?

alice

[alice md]

creativity is so many different things.

it is the way we think, what we do, how we bring up our children, or actually having them in the first place, the relationships we have with others.

it is art and science, it is the special and unique way in which we see the world around us, and also the way in which we express ourselves.

it is what we are and how we live each day.

and what we cook and eat. and the way we learn to adjust our cooking and eating to our changing needs.

it is how we solve problems, or sometimes how we get ourselves into having problems. it is how we make mistakes and how we learn, or don't learn from them.
it is how we dance, even we can only do it with our fingers, sometimes.

it is what we wear and the way we put the different pieces of our clothing and jewlery together.

it is also the courage to go against the flow, to be different sometimes, because this is what you feel is right for you.

it is finding the way to have fun and relax.

it is being able to find the "open door" as in the words of Alexander Graham Bell
“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”

and it is also the ability to use what others have created before you, or with you as part of your creation.

“Great discoveries and improvements invariably involve the cooperation of many minds. I may be given credit for having blazed the trail, but when I look at the subsequent developments I feel the credit is due to others rather than to myself.”
Alexander Graham Bell


and of course it is what you draw and paint, or sculpture (if you can) and what you write

alice

[rach73]

That poem is brilliant I love it, just love it!

Like Alice says maybe it should be given to med students on their first day.

Its utterly brilliant.

I also want a first edition autographed copy of your book!

The inscription could read "fromone Boffin to another" ! LOL

Love
Rach

PS
I like writing stuff, I like a bit of cooking and Ive just discovered the joy of carving pumpkins.

[Joanmarie63]

Look for the cheese
Not only the mold;
Do what seems right
Not only what you’re told.

I love that ^

Very good poem. My creative side, if one would call it that is volunteering. I love helping others, be it write something for them {many ask me to do that because they like my handwritting} or helping a child to read. Volunteering is my thing {when I can do it}

[rezmommy]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your creation! Excellent!! I can't wait to read your book.

I love to bake and I have fun doing little projects on paintshop pro. ~ Melanie

[jana]

TWO things I've ALWAYS wanted to be able to do -- sing and write poetry. I literally YEARN to do these -- I "feel" the impulse deep in my soul, in my flesh, in my bones -- yet, I have absolutely NO talent. NO, don't even SAY to try -- I have. I am very, very realistic -- I have accepted my limitations. But, I bask in the reflected glow of beautiful voices and wonderful poetry. I am happy right now -- this is VERY, VERY good, Annie!!

Now, a little disconcerting -- I was a Computer Science major in college -- back in the "olden days" of main frames -- octal and binary codes -- tapes and cards. I yearned to be an artist -- my parents said there was no money, no future -- I yielded to their wishes. A series of rapes on campus left me fearful of traveling to the computer lab at night to do my assignments -- my father FINALLY allowed me to change to art education my sophomore year. I graduated with a BA in Art -- but, with SO many math courses that I was also certified to teach in that area. Of course, math teachers are at a premium, so I only got to teach art for a couple of years.

So, Annie, ANOTHER "mixed" brain gal here. I don't know about YOU -- but, my logic tends to drive "some" people sort of "crazy" -- like intimidation "crazy". I certainly NEVER mean to intimidate/scare ANYONE -- it just sort of happens. This sort of explains my "scary smart" remark, huh?

BTW, my art lay unused all of these years -- UNTIL MG hit. Now, it is my refuge. I can do art when I can do nothing else. I feel so blessed to be able to "lose myself" in a drawing -- hours pass -- time means nothing. This is part of why I do NOT hate MG. IF it were NOT for MG, I might have NEVER rediscovered my art!!

[DesertFlower]

Annie, thank you for the topic and for sharing your poem. It inspired me to write this morning since I felt terrible today but still am able to type (I can close my eyes and relax while typing).

I have also trained both sides of my brain. I have a degree in Chemical and Fuels Engineering and worked as an engineer for 10 years and loved it. I also have been writing a sort of dream journal for many years since I have many vivid and interesting dreams. I had a dream of being a writer when I was a kid but realized that it was unlikely to pay the bills so I picked a career that could have some positive impact on the enviroment (I love nature!) and at the time there weren't any "green" jobs or fields of study available so I picked the closest thing I could think of that was challenging.

I have a goal of turning many of my dreams into a fiction book but I really did't know where to start (I have some general ideas on how to tie the dreams together but that is all)...but I did start this morning and the result is interesting. I am not sure that it is a book to sell but I am enjoying it at least. It is fun to merge my dreams into a story - so some of it is real and some of it is not. My story will have very little to do with MG and nothing to do with anyone here...it does include the emotional part of MG. I don't know where my story is going really, it is mostly unfolding on its own out of my unconscious mind and finally it is starting out on paper. I have decided that everytime I feel yucky and need a break that I will type if I have energy to type.

I write poetry - I don't know if any of it is good but it sure feels good to write it (it is also mostly based on my dreams). I also take close up pictures of flowers and occasionally I draw in black ink my impressions of the natural world. I made a small book with some of these creations using the program Blurb online which was very fun. So I have a book that I created! It is called "Earth Flower Song". I decided to share it with others even though I am so critical of it myself-maybe someone will like it(did I share it with you guys? I don't remember). I have another similar project in my mind that wants to realize itself but this one requires some serious hiking(serious for MG that is) to see some rare flowers, I am not quite up to it yet.

I used to volunteer and get an oppurtunity to share my knowledge of plants and learn too(another hobby) but I am out of the extra energy needed to volunteer (stupid MG!!!).

I will join you guys and share a few poems...but that is for another post, this one is too long. Obviously I am spending more time than usual in front of the computer.