What We Need Most?

So it has been a while since my last post and despite having relatively more free time over the last month, I haven’t been able to get around to posting a new piece- until now! But, before I delve into the main subject of the post, I wanted to share two simple rules that inspire me to keep writing and blogging and maybe will inspire you to do the same. 1) Keep your posts short and to the point and 2) only write about things worth writing about. Take note, the prerequisites for successful writing are not 1) talented and elegant word choice or 2) an Ivy league education. Anyone with the right motivation can write about topics that bring meaning to a wider audience. While some people choose to write for personal exploration and shy away from public exposure, I feel there is something beautiful about sharing with others, especially when the intention is simple: to bring knowledge, happiness and joy with your words.

With this wonderful construct in mind, I have been thinking more and more lately about a wonderful question posed by my uncle during a recent week long family vacation. During this vacation, I was surrounded by my aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and parents in the most complete family reunion in recent memory. Seeing some of my cousins embarking on the adventure that is college, and talking to my grandparents about their world travels brought me back to the reality that there was, indeed, a life outside of the hospital. More importantly, however, I was able to reconnect with my closest of kin, the ones who I called family, the ones who I loved the most. In this age of fabricated relationships and social media, we often substitute real human connection to live in the seemingly satisfying world of “likes,” Instagram photos and an insatiable Facebook news feed. If we could only see that technology is not the solution to all ills, would we finally find happiness from the simple hug? If we could step back from the “irrationalizations” that the pleasures gained through social media actually fulfill our true desires/needs as loving human beings, we would see that all we actually want is to connect with other humans?

Living once more in this world of nourishing interaction, it was no surprise that my uncle would provide the greatest food for thought during our last evening meal.  With the most earnest yet humorous tone, my uncle asked, “Being the most medically educated among us, if there was one thing you would recommend to keep healthy/improve one’s health, what would it be?” It took less than 2 seconds for me to respond. Instinctually and without fail, I replied, “Do this at least once a year.” It took slightly more than 2 seconds for the reality of my answer  to sink in, but the sentiment was immediately crystal clear. Being surrounded by your “tribe,” enjoying good food in a stress-free environment, sleeping more than 6 hours night and engaging in multiple forms of movement was exactly what all of us needed to restore and renew our strong passions for work. I will be the first to tell you that my family is full of enthusiastic “smartypants” and just having a few days together, sharing our collective knowledge brings about a mini-enlightenment without the feeling of a medical school lecture. And while it would be amazing if we could always live and work in this supportive and nourishing environment, it is vacations/times like these that remind us all that even as modern humans relying on technology for the simplest of tasks, maybe there is something to be gained from choosing to keep it simple all in the company of the ones you love.