Thursday, January 30, 2014

Settling into 2014: What's New and What's Next?

This is me, according to Lumosity

With February on the near horizon, I've officially turned the page on January. Ever keen on real symbolism, this means I've dramatically ripped up the paper calendar sheet on which January was printed. I ripped up the January page and tore it into itty bitty pieces I then tossed, responsibly, into recycling.

What a weird month this has been; weirder than usual, thanks to a powerful mix of public adventures and semi-private woes.

Public adventures included the delight of delivering onsite workshops and online webinars about using social media strategically and tactically. During January I romped with people from the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Methodist Church, and the United Church of Canada, thus reinforcing my commitment to working ecumenically as well as my reasons for doing do.

Public adventures have also included getting accepted into this March's Narrative Medicine Workshop at the Columbia University School of Medicine, and applying for an e-patient scholarship to attend Stanford MedX in September. Stay tuned for more about all that.

Semi-private woes included periodontal surgery that plunged me into a murky pit of anesthesia-induced depression and anxiety, the likes of which I've not experienced for a very long time. I'm determined to write more clearly about this experience after the fog lifts. Meanwhile, I'm very busy removing sutures with my tongue and manicure scissors.

Mostly I am feeling, as we say in the world of Twelve Step Recovery, "restless, irritable, and discontent" as January comes to an end.

When I look at my jam-packed calendar, I can easily answer the questions, "What's new and what's next?"

When I set my calendar aside and ask these questions at a deeper level, I come up with, "God only knows." Clearly it's time to embrace "curiosity" as my primary spiritual practice. And just as clearly, it's a good God thing that I know this.