Beautiful piece! I applaud you for embracing your vulnerability and opening up in that group setting, despite being a skeptic and an introvert, both of which I relate to deeply.
I think we often see ourselves as superhuman, as though the struggles that plague our patients could never defeat us. In doing so, we sometimes become the very patient our doctor selves can never cure.
Finding peace in letting go is powerful. I’ve yet to master it myself.
Big hugs, Gabriel. You remain as honest in your writing as your first book. That is no mean feat. I must say though- all through reading your blogpost I kept wondering how on earth you managed to secure a 7-month sabbatical in the NHS?
Thank you! Re sabbatical: I said ‘I’m going away for 7 months. Would you like me to come back at the end of that time?”. I think the trick with the NHS is not asking permission.
You capture that feeling of helplessness completely- I have a very similar situation & should absolutely have opened up to others in a similar boat at the time… perhaps being so far away helped you to say what was on your mind, in a way you couldn’t nearer to home, for fear of others judgement. Maybe also when we reach a certain stage of life, we care less about what others think & just try to follow our own instincts as to what action makes the most sense for us? Thanks for highlighting this issue, which is much more widespread than we care to admit. 🙏
Thanks for this thoughtful comment. I definitely agree that I wouldn’t have tried these group sessions had I been at home in the UK. Something about that distance made it possible. Thanks also for sharing your own experience.
What an interesting piece. There is something very powerful you capture here in that feeling of walking into that room as a sceptic.
I've sometimes wondered whether my own professional identity has been a barrier to beneficial change in my life. For a long time there was something in my status as a sceptical TV producer that slowed me down from volunteering or learning meditation, both of which have since brought me great happiness.
Thanks for this Will. I know what you mean. In my case, I’d go a step further..the rigid rules-loving part of me took me INTO surgery and made me right at home there. Undoing, loosening the seams etc has been the project of my later adult life, still ongoing. As Bob Dylan said: “I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now”.
Beautiful piece! I applaud you for embracing your vulnerability and opening up in that group setting, despite being a skeptic and an introvert, both of which I relate to deeply.
I think we often see ourselves as superhuman, as though the struggles that plague our patients could never defeat us. In doing so, we sometimes become the very patient our doctor selves can never cure.
Finding peace in letting go is powerful. I’ve yet to master it myself.
Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Emma. I went against instinct, for sure.
Big hugs, Gabriel. You remain as honest in your writing as your first book. That is no mean feat. I must say though- all through reading your blogpost I kept wondering how on earth you managed to secure a 7-month sabbatical in the NHS?
Thank you! Re sabbatical: I said ‘I’m going away for 7 months. Would you like me to come back at the end of that time?”. I think the trick with the NHS is not asking permission.
Yea, I am seeing that to be the case the more senior I become in the NHS.
You capture that feeling of helplessness completely- I have a very similar situation & should absolutely have opened up to others in a similar boat at the time… perhaps being so far away helped you to say what was on your mind, in a way you couldn’t nearer to home, for fear of others judgement. Maybe also when we reach a certain stage of life, we care less about what others think & just try to follow our own instincts as to what action makes the most sense for us? Thanks for highlighting this issue, which is much more widespread than we care to admit. 🙏
Thanks for this thoughtful comment. I definitely agree that I wouldn’t have tried these group sessions had I been at home in the UK. Something about that distance made it possible. Thanks also for sharing your own experience.
Keep coming back!
Thank you
What an interesting piece. There is something very powerful you capture here in that feeling of walking into that room as a sceptic.
I've sometimes wondered whether my own professional identity has been a barrier to beneficial change in my life. For a long time there was something in my status as a sceptical TV producer that slowed me down from volunteering or learning meditation, both of which have since brought me great happiness.
Thanks for this Will. I know what you mean. In my case, I’d go a step further..the rigid rules-loving part of me took me INTO surgery and made me right at home there. Undoing, loosening the seams etc has been the project of my later adult life, still ongoing. As Bob Dylan said: “I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now”.
I love that quote - never heard it! Going to keep it with me, particularly as I descend further day-by-day into high-vis silliness.
So thought-provoking. The sabbatical in Australia sounds magical 💛
It was amazing in unexpected ways. Thanks Hannah