Seasons Of Impermanence
Awe In The Ordinary
Dear Ones,
Hi society co-creators. Rehumanizers. There is ileus inside our guts, insatiables. We have too much to digest these days. It is hard to metabolize complicities.
I deliver these letters to the biosphere. Some of you interact with words and images here. The interplay between your emotions and mine is a dynamic process.
Thank you for the collaboration, Sapiens.
Life after “corporate” medicine feels like traffic school. I learn speed limits. I was only ever taught go-go-go green. I did not even know there was a red or a yellow option, did you? What an affliction! Conditioned productivity was a fake metric of my worth. Unlearning is hard. Rest is resistance.
HELLO (AGAIN) DENGUE
There have been 5 cases of locally acquired Dengue disease in Los Angeles, California. Likely someone traveled to L.A. carrying active Dengue. A mosquito bit this human and then spread it to another human. Other possibilities possible. There is no direct human-to-human spread. Prior to 2023, diagnosed infections were related only to travel abroad.
Dengue is a tropical flavivirus that spreads via Aedes Aegypti mosquito bites (aka ankle biters). It is the most common arboviral infection worldwide. Rises in global incidence are likely related to warmer breeding grounds.
In the U.S. alone, January-June of 2024 experienced double the reported cases compared to all of 2023. U.S. cases are still mostly travel-related acquisitions. Travel plus ecological changes impact local and global flora.
Don’t you see how it is all interconnected? Local report here.
SYSTEMIC HARM
When systems abuse us, how should we respond? By turning a blind eye? By abusing the system back? By fighting? By surrendering?
Dr. Virchow, a German physician, famously said that doctors are "natural attorneys of the poor.” This endless fight is sickening all of us on the ground. It is time for this sick care system to have a do-not-resuscitate order. Seismic changes.
ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS
of Physician Interrupted eloquently writes on abuses of medical training. He calls it a “system-wide humanitarian crisis.” Dr. Manion insists that “the time has come for clinical leaders of all medical and surgical specialties’ national associations to critically examine these abusive programs.”We face an epidemic of moral injury (not “burnout”) causing very poor patient “care.”
There are many calls to action yet little to no action. How do we face this paralysis?
In 2022, a comprehensive report by the Surgeon General goes into great detail about the crises.
A wealth you cannot imagine flows through you. Do not consider what strangers say. Be secluded in your secret heart-house, that bowl of silence.” -Rumi
PANIC AND STRETCH ZONES
Since my last letter, I entered and exited a few different panic zones. Phew! Panic is just another word for fear. Fear often stems from lack of control. It is rooted in love. For example, I was worried about loved ones in N.Carolina and Iran. This grew my fear. I chose to embrace panicky parts with compassion. Fear (healthy and unhealthy types) offers many learning lessons:
that there is an infinite supply closet of panic (and peace) inside of us.
if we let panic and fear run their course, they tire out and depart peacefully.
panic zones turn into stretch zones when offered a safe platform.
“to see things in the seed, that is genius.” -Lao Tzu
SACRED ORDINARY
A mystic seeks direct spiritual experience through personal practice, such as meditation, contemplation, or prayer. Note what it is not: one who blindly follows scripture or dogma.
My lost soul became a mystic so we can all become mystics. We don’t have to go to an ashram in India or meditate 10 hours a day to access our higher selves. We can connect to the wonders of ordinary moments.
Mirabai Starr (author, teacher, Ram Dass disciple) reminds us that the sacred and the ordinary are braided together. She discusses the link between profound loss and longing for spiritual connection. Growth opportunities live inside of our individual and collective pain.
Starr believes that “encounters with the sacred that radiate from the core of the ordinary embolden you to cultivate stillness and simple awareness. In the midst of a world that is begging you to distract yourself, this is no easy practice. Yet you keep showing up. You are indomitable.”
HUMAN UNINHABITATION
The demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea is 70 years old and 160 miles long. Heavily restricted and inadvertently a haven for wildlife. It is home to over 2,900 plant species, 70 species of mammals, and more than 300 species of birds. Questions arise:
Why does wildlife flourish in sites with no human activity? hmm, good question.
Can we all somehow coexist? I want to say yes as my garden is like a personal demilitarized zone. A sanctuary for all my relations.
INCONVENIENT TRUTH
The nuclear family model is no longer relevant in contemporary society. Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. Surgeon General warns that our current way of family-ing needs serious attention.
Nuclear families became the dominant model in the U.S. after World War II. Before the war, life involved multiple generations living together or nearby, often in close-knit communities.
LOVE IS LOVE
Agápē (ἀγάπη): A selfless, unconditional love that extends to all people, regardless of their relationship to the person feeling the love.
Éros (ἔρως): A passionate, sexual love that is often associated with physical desire and attraction. Society pushes this romanticized Hollywood version as the only one that matters.
Philía (φιλία): A love between friends or equals, characterized by affectionate regard and mutual respect.
Storgē (στοργή): A familial love, such as the love between parents and children or between siblings.
Philautía (φιλαυτία): A love of oneself, often associated with self-esteem and confidence.
Xenía (ξενία): A love that extends hospitality to strangers or foreigners, often considered a sacred duty in ancient Greek culture. (Xenophobia is the opposite)
***NESSA TIP*** What type of love is most prevalent in your life? Let me guess, eros and storge? Where do you invest your love time and energy? My attention has often been on Philia and Xenia and more recently on Philautia and Agape.
Tap the heart below to show some love. Leave a comment or share if you feel compelled.
For a free 30 min curiosity zoom call, click on calender link here or reply to this email.
Nessa (born at 333 ppm)
LOCAL SHENANIGANS
Physicians: Check out this desert CME seminar regarding Ketamine-assisted therapy here. This is offered by local doctor and friend, Dr. Ben Mati.
Locals: Dr. Mati also provides our local community with comprehensive ketamine-assisted therapy services. Be open to innovative healing experiences, explore and inquire about it here.
I eat fresh bread only. Support this small batch Clemente Bakery.
Get fresh pita/lavash bread on mondays/thursdays at Santa Cruz Market. Pick up valbreso feta cheese and Persian cucumbers (my favorite food). The affiliated restaurant Green Olive has amazing kabobs and falafels.
SCARS OF MY HAPPINESS:
A Continual Autumn by Rumi
Inside each of us there’s
a continual autumn.
Our leaves fall and are
blown out over the water,
a crow sits in the blackened limbs and
talks about what’s gone.
There’s a necessary dying, and
then we are reborn breathing again.
Very little grows on jagged rock.
Be ground.
Be crumbled
so wildflowers will come up where you are.
Just started reading "NEXUS" and this truth hits home and leaves me with a sense of Now what? "If we Sapiens are so wise, why are we so self-destructive?".......and this "...power isn't wisdom, and after 100,000 years of discoveries, inventions, and conquests, humanity has pushed itself into an existential crisis. We are on the verge of an ecological collapse, caused by the misuse of our own power." Here's the conundrum: There are those among us who seek power for control but there are also those among us capable of using power to serve the needs of others, and the planet.
Thanks for sharing about Ben! Hope the panic zones treat you kindly. That Rumi poem 😻😻😻