I’m going to tell you a secret: all physicians have days when they want to quit everything, when the prestige and pay – or rather lack of them – are not enough for the immense burden they carry on their shoulders.
Most of us don’t quit our jobs – some of us may switch specialties – but starting from the medical school we develop ways of coping with stress and pain and lack of resources and sometimes downright anger that you can offer nothing more but a kind word and palliative care.
My way of coping is not glamorous and I would never bring it openly in a discussion – but it works. I do needlepoint in my free time – I pick printed flower kits with all their threads included. I don’t frame them the usual European way; I roll them like papyrus, store them safely and display them one at a time, just like a painting in a tea house.
I couldn’t sew anything else but flowers – they have no face and no pain, no eyes and no tears, no mouths and no screams. They blossom in silence and die quietly – without any intensive care unit at their side.
If you do needlepoint or any other textile craft, check out a tutorial on my innovative way of framing such pieces so that you can roll them for storage or display them one at a time the Japanese tea house way.
