What to Do

I went to an Ob/Gyn attending's house tonight for dinner and she provided some very interesting food for thought. I won't go into all of it now, but I wanted to mention a couple of things that she said. The group that was present was the Women in Medicine group, a small and not-very-active group. I am an officer in this group, so I felt obligated to go. Also, the sponsor is an Ob/Gyn, which is what I want to do... clearly, a good place for me to be.

One of the things that she repeated was the fact that you can't do everything. YOU CAN'T DO EVERYTHING. Revolutionary. She's been through two unsuccessful marriages with children from each. She's an accomplished physician in an academic setting who dropped out of medicine for several years while her kids were in high school so that she could be a mom. She stressed that we have to take care of ourselves and keep bits of ourselves in reserve for just us. This is something I, an extrovert by nature, have never thought of. Keeping part of myself for just me. What does that even mean, practically speaking? Do I keep secrets? Do I find new hobbies but don't tell anyone?

She also stressed that we should have hobbies, interests, passions outside of medicine. We should not be 100% doctors; this is not healthy. Especially as women, it is crucial for us to be whole people. Here are some hobbies, interests, passions of mine. I want to document them so that I can hold myself accountable.

I want to go to India to study yoga with The Dude (as I call him).
I want to be a mother. To a human. Maybe several humans.
I want to have life-long friends.
I want my family to know who I am now, not who I was when I moved out ten years ago.
I want to make music with people that love to make music. Even if it's not that good.
I want to be useful to people, both people I know and also to strangers.
I want to be a good example and role model for other people.

That's a start.