Art Collection (NYC Health + Hospitals)
“Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life.” Pablo Picasso Since time immemorial art has been recognized as promoting healing and well-being. New York City + Hospitals has a collection of over 7000 works of art, distributed among its acute care hospitals, nursing homes, diagnostic and treatment centers, and community-based primary care sites. […]
Walking: A Universal Doorway
“Walking is man’s best medicine.” Hippocrates Throughout history and into our present day, all manner of individuals has embraced walking as vital to their existence. Beyond fulfilling a desire for exercise, it restores equanimity, it catalyzes creativity, it fosters contemplation; it connects us to nature. Mahatma Gandhi walked in non-violent protest; for Friedrich Nietzsche, walking […]
Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and how it can Transform your Life by Dacher Kelter
The word “awe” resonates and vibrates with the mystery of touching the transcendent. Awe has the power to penetrate any moment or situation. Kelter asks: “What is the end of awe, its unifying purpose?……….The epiphany of awe is that its experience connects our individual selves with the vast forces of life…..” It enables us to […]
Medicine and Creativity
In her book, Big Magic, the author, Elizabeth Gilbert, dismisses the idea that there are those that are creative and there are those who aren’t. She describes how her own creativity often stems from and is sustained by her profound curiosity, particularly on those days when passion seems in short supply. “Curiosity is the truth […]
Knowledge/Wisdom
“It is the province of knowledge to speak, and the privilege of wisdom to listen” -19th century author and physician, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. “Knowledge Speaks, Wisdom Listens” -Widely attributed to Jimi Hendrix In an ideal world we are well served when these two protagonists both show up. The first quote reminds us that it is […]
“Automatic Rules”
How often do we make resolutions for behavior change, yet immediately reduce our chances for success by making them completely dependent on willpower. For example, we decide to exercise on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, yet we quickly allow negotiation to enter the picture. We’re tired, have too much work, don’t feel motivated and before we know it […]
Powerful Ways to Address Loneliness and Mental Health
The Friendship Bench https://www.centreforglobalmentalhealth.org/the-friendship-bench “Men don’t talk face to face, they stand shoulder to shoulder” https://mensshed.org
The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year – Margaret Renkl
“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.” – Mary Oliver I know that I am fortunate to have five senses- smell, touch, hearing, taste and sight- yet I sometimes feel like a car that isn’t firing on all cylinders. I have these marvelous gifts that are just there, wallowing in a kind […]
Parker J. Palmer – Writer, Speaker, Educator and Activist
“I’m using the word heart as they did in ancient times, when it didn’t merely mean the emotions, as it tends to mean today. It meant that center in the human self where everything comes together—where will and intellect and values and feeling and intuition and vision all converge. It meant the source of one’s […]