Something greater than myself, in me
"What is done by what is called myself is, I feel, done by something greater than myself in me." ~James Clerk Maxwell, physicist, on his deathbed in 1879 The artwork above is a painting by Navajo artist David K. John , and hangs in my office. Titled "Rain Chanters," it depicts beings that are sacred to the Dine (the Navajo people), and which can offer healing assistance. It blesses the space where I see my patients. I am grateful for any feeling of help when working with my patients. To me this is a huge responsibility, and doctors, nurses, therapists, and other caregivers can easily feel overwhelmed. We're all the time trying to understand and solve others' problems. It sometimes amounts to what Dr. David Reilly of Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital in Scotland calls " fixitology ". We act as if we think the patient is broken , needing to be "fixed" -- as quickly as possible (" quickfixitology "). Further, we reduce the person to b...