Having flown so frequently in the past few weeks, to Europe, to Houston, and back to Virginia, I’ve come to appreciate the sensation of being slightly weightless. For those of you who may not partake in planes, or enjoy the thrill of roller coasters, this is the same benign gravity defiance of trampolines or bouncy houses. While unfortunately it doesn’t make me weigh any less, it does imbue me with a strange sense of optimism.
My latest trip was to a Chief Conference, an attempt to prepare the up coming Chief Residents for their year of indentured servitude. As with other conferences I’ve been to these past few years, it was quite motivational and energizing. The atmosphere of camaraderie, of change and accomplishments unforetold can stir even the most stoic of hearts. It was true after the AAFP National Conference and definitely true after this APDIM Chief Meeting.
The wisdom of Chiefs past mixing with the ideas of a congress of programs (and the constant availability of coffee) makes the blood rush to our heads and gives us notions. The impetus for improvement, the possibilities of new power, the new responsibilities we receive are all quite intoxicating. How can we better this or that aspect of our program, make life easier, make attendance better, help those who are falling behind? It’s all momentarily possible, tempered by a healthy dose of realism and the briefest acknowledgement of bureaucratic red tape. Our three year journeys are never pain free. So many issues arise, some potentially problematic and many more merely inconvenient.
Somehow, we will strive to be hopeful and practical. We will strive to be perfect in our own ways. We will strive to have even tempers. We will strive to optimize everything. We will herd others to the light and make them the see it. We will support them so that they can be the best they can be. We want to develop this, to promote that, to make things interesting, to leave a lasting legacy and large foot prints.
But, I’m a born moderate. Hopefully, this be our guiding light as the seasons change, but what we want is irrelevant. Optimism is inherently motionless. Starting today, it’s time to see how effective we are at maneuvering through the jungle. Maybe by the end of the year, we truly will be swinging through the forest, slightly weightless.
Whistling of Wrens 