Posted in from the consulting room, health, video on September 9, 2011| 7 Comments »
Take a few moments and watch this short video clip (about 7 minutes).
It’s the last part of Sir Harry Burns, Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer’s excellent address to the NHS Scotland Conference 2011.
In this part of his talk, he eloquently makes a strong case for the central importance of compassion in health care.
You can see his whole talk, and download his powerpoint slides here
Posted in from the viewing room, life, video on August 22, 2011| 1 Comment »
Posted in creativity, from the viewing room, video, writing on April 4, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Here’s a very entertaining four minutes or so of Kurt Vonnegurt explaining the shapes of stories, using a blackboard……
Posted in from the consulting room, from the living room, health, life, video on March 19, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Lovely piece on the School of Life site considering active and passive paths to wellness. The yin yang symbol is one of the most potent symbols we have – I wear one around my neck. One aspect of the symbol is the representation of a dynamic balance of active and passive principles. Taking this idea, Jules Evans writes about a session at the School of Life where representatives of each of these models tell their stories.
The active form of well-being lies in the happiness of pursuit, striving after a goal, making things happen. Its great champion is Aristotle, who defined happiness as a vital activity of the soul. The other form of well-being is passive. It finds happiness in the renunciation of the will – not in making things happen, but in accepting things happening as they do. This is the approach of the Stoics and Epicureans, both of whom define happiness as freedom from desire, and also of the Buddhists and Taoists.
I like this idea. My daily practice of medicine is grounded on the belief that all human beings are unique and by active, non-judgmental listening, I can come to understand the particular worldviews, coping strategies and pathological changes within each patient I meet (and, of course, how these are all linked). One consequence of this approach is to realise that different people have very different approaches to wellness. And that, fundamentally, is ok. There really is no one size fits all, and there is always an alternative.
Representing the Yang school of well-being, there is the entrepreneur Robert Kelsey, full of energy, leaping from mission to mission (‘first I was a journalist, then a banker, then a writer, then an entrepreneur’), picking himself up when a mission fails, only to launch himself on another voyage……[and, on the other hand, Ed Halliwell]….tells us that he only found peace from his battle with depression when he stopped “desperately striving to change my situation. When I did, a curious thing happened: my depression lifted”. Meditation is, he says, the opposite of striving: “It’s impossible to strive to do it. The process is about sitting and observing, being in the moment, rather than striving.”
Posted in from the music room, music, video on March 10, 2011| Leave a Comment »
OK, I know posting music is a bit of a gamble, because we don’t all like the same kind of music. But here’s one song I love – “Stand in Awe” by the wonderful, Dala.
And, personally, I think we need to have more music in our lives – it’s good for your right brain!
Posted in from the consulting room, from the viewing room, health, neuroscience, video on September 21, 2010| 1 Comment »
There are some fabulous TED talks but this one from Jill Bolte Taylor describing her experience of having a stroke in the left side of her brain is not only incredibly moving but might change the way you’ll think about your brain, your mind and even the nature of reality.
It is a great confirmation of Ian McGilchrist‘s work on how the left and right side of the brain can be shown to have unique and very different ways of approaching and engaging with the world. She also uses language entirely consistent with the work of Dan Seigel’s Interpersonal Neurobiology approach.
I urge you. Take a few minutes and watch this video. It’s an amazing story.
Posted in art, creativity, from the dark room, from the viewing room, photography, video on September 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Today I went to the Mori Arts Centre, on the 53rd floor of this building in Roppongi Hills….
…where there is an exhibition, entitled “Sensing Nature”. Apparently there are two words for “nature” in Japanese. The original meant “as is”, and the newer one is like the Western idea of “nature” being like “wilderness”, or “countryside”. There are installations from Yoshioka Tokujin, Shinoda Taro and Kuribayashi Takashi.
Here’s one entitled “Forest from Forest”
This is made from washi paper, and you have to stoop or crawl underneath it, and pop your head up through a hole torn in the paper forest floor.
Two of the other installations are better captured on video. Here they are
Recommended. I haven’t seen anything quite like this before.
Posted in from the dark room, from the viewing room, music, photography, video on May 22, 2010| 1 Comment »
What’s that I hear?
Stop.
Look up.
Zoom in.
Bird song……..little birds, big sounds, instantly……..I hear this…….
Sometimes when the past comes crashing into the present it’s a wholly pleasant experience.
Posted in from the viewing room, life, neuroscience, video on May 14, 2010| 2 Comments »
This is superb – a short talk by Jeremy Rifkin illustrated fabulously by the RSA – please, take a few minutes and watch it. I think you’ll be inspired
Posted in creativity, from the viewing room, video on January 31, 2010| Leave a Comment »
……a very, very, short movie I made today
Heroes Not Zombies 