Reading and writing poetry is as much a tool for self-expression as a tool for self-exploration. While reading the works provided below, connect with the memories, associations, and emotions that the poems bring forward for you personally. As you read, thinking about how your own relationship with loss/death/suffering changed because of your experiences in healthcare (either as a patient, a student, or a practitioner). Do you feel your capacity for empathy has deepened or dulled?  How do these experiences impact the way you view yourself and your patients?

After reading and the poem Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye, and thinking about these questions, return here for some additional thoughts (STOP HERE and read the poem "Kindness" first).

Naomi Shihab Nye wrote this poem shortly after a horrific experience during her honeymoon. She and her husband planned to spend a few weeks in South America but shortly after arriving the entire bus they were traveling with was robbed. One man on the bus was killed during the incident. Later, a local man approached them, sensing their distress, and asked what happened. He listened and was kind. While her husband hitchhiked to a nearby town, with night approaching quickly, penniless, without a passport, sitting alone in an empting small town plaza Naomi Shihab Nye wrote this poem. Here kindness is connected with experiences of sorrow and as one deepens, often so does the other. This connection is later reiterated as kindness being both a friend, and a shadow. It is not sorrow alone that deepens our appreciation of kindness but rather we must “speak to it until your voice catches the thread of all sorrows and you see the size of the cloth”; it is when we allow our sorrow to connect us to the universal experience of suffering, with others, and with what we love. How does the sorrow you experience connect you with others and what does it bring you to more deeply appreciate?

Short reflection question:

How does the sorrow you experience connect you with others and what does it bring you to more deeply appreciate?  How might the experience of sorrow help you connect with your current/future patients?

Instructions to peer:

Comment on your peer's response and raise at least three additional questions for them to consider.

Similar to the activity above, please read the poem, "The Journey" by Mary Oliver. As you read, think about whether unrealistic expectations from patients or their family members undermined the confidence you have in your capacity as a practitioner? If you have ever, cared for a patient that could not be “saved”, did you blame yourself or feel it was a reflection of your capacity (if you have not yet had this experience, think about how you might feel)?

After reading the poem "The Journey" by Mary Oliver, and reflecting on the questions above, return here for some additional thoughts (STOP HERE and read the poem "The Journey" first): 

Mary Oliver’s poem focuses on the journey we take to become an individual. Realizing what we know we need to do to thrive and accepting responsibility for the path we take is the first step that propels us toward growth. Initially, the traveler is met with voices that try to sway them from the path they know they must take. These voices may be society’s expectations, family expectations, obligations we feel toward others that come at the cost of our wellbeing. She writes “You knew what you had to do… through their melancholy was terrible” which emphasizes how our sympathy can sometimes lead us to betray ourselves. It is a confusing and uncomfortable journey. The house is a metaphor for the self; when we venture on this journey the very foundation of how we understand our self is shaken. The road is “full of branches and stones” but “little by little” our own voice becomes clearer. The further along on our journey we go, the easier it becomes to know our true self and go where our individual conscious, our own internal voice, leads us. What bad advice/voices/pleas/expectations do you know you must ignore as a health care practitioner in order to thrive?

Short reflection question:
What bad advice/voices/pleas/expectations do you know you must ignore as a health care practitioner in order to thrive?

Instructions to peer:
Comment on your peer's response and raise at least three additional questions for them to consider.