Heroes Not Zombies

We humans like a mystery. How many book titles include the word “mystery”? When something is mysterious our curiosity kicks in, and we love to be curious. We love to explore and we love to discover. Throughout my medical career every new patient presented a mystery to me….who were they, what were they experiencing, what kind of life did they lead, what kind of illness did they have and how had it come about? The questions were endless. I loved that. I loved knowing that I could never fully know another person. I was never done being curious. Everyone interested me. Everyone drew me in to explore their story, because in that exploration I’d come to a better understanding of them, and, crucially, as I came to better understand them, they came to better understand themselves. As we explored their mysteries together we created a therapeutic relationship. No matter what treatment I could prescribe, it would always be in the context of that therapeutic relationship.

Life is a mystery. It’s not all laid out before us in black and white. We never reach a point where we know all that we could know. I love that. It makes life enchanting. I wouldn’t want to live in a purely utilitarian world of simple facts and measurements. I love that the most important elements in life are unmeasurable, and so always contain some mystery – love, beauty, joy, wonder, awe, passion and imagination.

I’m wary of those who claim they know all there is to know about something or someone. I’m wary of those who think there’s noting more to know.