Category Global health and disparities

FMM 12 18 15 In Praise of Life

“Though lovers be lost love shall not, And death shall have no dominion.”~Dylan Thomas.   Death is a funny thing.  It sharpens the senses like a shower of rain clears the air.  Memories once distant come close.  As a drop of dew on a leaf brings the colors and veins into acute focus, it can […]

FMM 12 11 15 Balancing Act

“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony”~ Thomas Merton.  In case you didn’t know, with or without your help, your body always strives for balance.  There is even a word for it: homeostasis.  It is the drive to keep things in check, to correct what life, illness, and […]

FMM 11 20 15 The Greatest is Love

“Love’s in need of love today” ~Stevie Wonder.  Life is an act of faith.  It is also fragile.  Each morning when we wake up, we go out into the world fully expecting to return safe and sound, even though (if we watch the news) we know there are so many things that could go wrong.  […]

FMM 11 13 15 Degrees of Freedom

“Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but our self can free our mind. ”Marcus Garvey.   Going back to school brings with it a host of challenges, one of which is a subject known as statistics.  The good news is, they don’t expect you to know formulae any more, and there are programs that run […]

FMM 6 19 15 Embrace yourself!

“If you don’t love yourself, you cannot love others.  You will not be able to love others.  If you have no compassion for yourself then you are not able of developing compassion for others.”~Dalai Lama. This world can be a scary place, with examples of hate and violence evident in living color whenever we turn […]

FMM 5 22 15 Easier said than done

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds, cannot change anything.” ~ George Bernard Shaw.  I am waking up this morning in the Big Easy, city of sin, city of jazz.  I came in for a conference, and so far have not seen any sin, or heard any jazz!  And this […]

FMM 5 8 15 Modeling

“Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.” ~Samuel Smiles. It has been an interesting couple of weeks.  During National Nurse’s Week I have been privileged to observe nurses at work from a different perspective, while visiting a brave family member in the hospital.  […]

FMM 5 1 15 May Day!

“Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing.” ~ Rollo May. I love words.  I encountered a new one the other day, ‘sonder’, which is a noun representing the realization that random people live a life just as complex and vivid as our own.  Most of the time we are so […]

FMM 4 24 15 Heart and Science

“Our sorrows and wounds are healed only when we touch them with compassion”~ Buddha. I have always loved the science of anatomy and physiology.  When I was in my teens, my sister gave me an illustrated textbook which sparked my imagination.  It is difficult to imagine what is going on beneath our skin, the constant […]

FMM 4 10 15 And a Book of Rules

“The opportunity for brotherhood presents itself every time you meet a human being.” ~Jane Wyman  Last year I learned an interesting fact about the culture of the people of the Dominican Republic.  We were having a ‘culture’ day in class, a day when I invite the students to bring an item that symbolizes their culture.  […]