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The Clinic as Workshop: Reflections on the New Year
I come across this beautiful 19th-century painting recently and am riveted to the image for several minutes. I absorb the peaceful setting, where the girl seems simultaneously unperturbed, yet inspired by her surroundings. I feel her dual experiences of taking something in, and yearning to express something out. It reminds me of an email from a dear friend, about the idea of a workshop and all the forms a workshop might take, where room is made to be present, capture a moment, and inspire creativity.
As a licensed naturopathic doctor for the last thirty-five years, I know that one of my favorite workshops is my clinic and my experiences treating patients.
In this Etch-a-Sketch time of year, when we all get a do-over, let’s-start-afresh chance, I consider what I might like to write about this year. I want to write stories about COVID-19 and what naturopathic medicine brings to the table. I want to write about healing from a difficult year. I want to write lighter pieces about people and places and art and nature. I aim to stay inspired by literal surroundings and my internal landscape, by the people I talk to, by the natural world, by things I read and hear and experience, and most essentially, by my patient’s stories.
