transformation

i think that i will surely look back on this period as a transformative time in my life. i have been rushing around the world of late (haven't even been in my own home since january, with another 2 months to go), but it's not catching up with me at all - i think because it's just been non-stop learning.

first it was nunavut, and what will probably prove to be my favorite month of this beastly thing called medical clerkship -- the final long months before a new md is minted. i had a ball up there - fun, warm people, interesting work every moment of every day, and the adventure of a place unique in so many ways.

then, a whirlwind working trip to chile, and the buzz of youthful energy collected. five hundred and fifty bright and empassioned students from around the world, wading through protocol and policy to get to the heart of some very hearfelt dialogues.

now goose bay, labrador, and surrounded by islanders and an ecclectic mix of docs from all over the world (mexico, nepal, england, poland, iraq, colombia...). and i feel, here, where i'm outside of my comfort zone professionally (surgery was never what i thought i would voluntarily sign up for, even if only for a few weeks -- i'm more of a 'healer' than a 'fixer', more jazzed up by process than by outcomes, and ever-tentative about creating wounds) that i'm stretching a tough, fibrous capsule that was close around my arms. in spite of myself, i am enjoying this time, this learning, this material, and my expanding vision of what i am capable of immensely! no doubt largely due to the very good fortune of having an exceptionally kind and gentle teacher in a field known for neither.

it all feels bigger than the words i can find for it. i wish i could capture it better - it will soon have faded, and i'll be unable to evoke the magnitude in memory.