Welcome to the last edition of the WonderPost for 2018! As the year nears completion (fully constructed, as it were), it’s time to reflect, ponder, wonder, and consider what has been our best and worst and in-between experiences.
In 2018 to date: we hit almost 600 followers! Woohoo! Thanks to each and every one of you for reading, listening, contributing and sharing. We really appreciate it and we hope this little thing we started will help lead to improved self-care. We also hope to start a little movement of people wanting to make healthcare better for healthcare workers. Thank YOU for being a part of that.
In 2018: Groany Jones made many cartoons. We all worked in many hospital (I made it to five!). We saw many patients, went on many walks, regretted not spending more time reading books/playing musical instruments/seeing our friends and families/doing more study. We enjoyed gesticulating wildly while debriefing on intense clinical situations with sympathetic colleagues, interpretive dancing diagnoses for patients (am I the only one who does this?), grabbing the rare team lunch, and the occasional spectacle of going home on time (but oh the traffic…).
And, looking forward to 2019, there are probably brewing resolutions (publish more papers! get more exams done! be kinder to our colleagues! make the most of every minute! read a journal article per day!) that may or may not lead us to success. This editor of Fast Company found success in little habits rather than giant goals. Perhaps this perspective would work well for some of us too. I plan on being more responsible with my coffee cup consumption in 2019 and have been really intrigued to see some of the waste management solutions popping up in the media of late. This Tasmanian council has built a road made out of waste, which is really pretty cool. And if you’re not sure what happens to your recycling when you put it in the bin, this article might help you out.
If you’ve resolved to spend more time with your special person in 2019, you may get a kick out of these Love Poems for Married People. If, on the other hand, you have been/will try to date, you may enjoy these (rather heteronormative) comparison of headlines on “how to date properly.”
Maybe you’ve been getting on the bandwagon about good gut health in the year where the microbiome has been touted as the answer to many of our problems. This article about mice with autism-like symptoms being treated with lactobacillus might be up your alley. On the same topic, the book Missing Microbes by NYU Professor Blaser may challenge some of your preconceived notions about bacteria. And if you’re more the sort to clear the world from the scurge of bacteria, perhaps you will enjoy this piece on the power of sunlight.
And, in tributes to strong, intelligent women, here’s the story of the woman who invented the first word processor. Where would our world be without her?
Over the holiday season, I hope you all have time to rest, relax, reflect, and engage in whatever pastime makes you smile. I’m hoping to get my nose into some more books after reading some crackers this year. Recommendations include:
- Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala, a British rapper (who, unlike my Urban Flavour playlist on Spotify, sings about issues affecting the disenfranchised rather than drugs and money)
- No Friend but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison by Behrouz Boochani, a journalist and refugee who wrote this book text message by text message to a colleague and friend in mainland Australia
- How to Make White People Laugh by Negin Farsad, an Iranian-American-Muslim-Comedian
- The Course of Love by Alain de Botton, a philosopher
- The Ten Types of Human: a New Understanding of Who We Are, and Who We Can Be by Dexter Dias, a human rights lawyer
- Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Citizen: an American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
- Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps that Tell You Everything You Need to Know about Global Politics by Tim Marshall
And if you, like me, may be stuck indoors more than you would like over the next few weeks, here’s a pretty picture of the outside world for your enjoyment.
Take care and see you in 2019!
