Wednesday, December 27, 2006

The Late December Challenge

Here we are at the fulcrum of the holiday season, with Christmas and Hanukkah behind us, Kwaanza beginning, and the secular New Year on the verge. The challenge for me right now is to embrace and finesse the need to return to work and contnue walking the walk while my heart and soul cry out for long naps, luxurious time with my sweetheart, and the natural desire for semi-hibernation and focus at home.

Patients' needs do not decrease in the holiday season---why, they seem to inflate. Survivors of trauma and family dysfunction are triggered during this time of year, and physical and psychological symptoms come to bear. I am myself not immune from such manifestations. and my deepest desire is to hole up and nurture my own heart.

Suffice it to say, this time of warmth and family and togetherness has a flip side which can lead to introspection, memory, and the need to look within.

Finding the balance between the inner and the outer is certainly the challenge of the day.

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