Saturday, February 07, 2009

Even Rainbows are Poisoned with Damnation

When someone asks what there is to do,
light the candle in his hand.

Like this.

-- Rumi

I hate going to half-days. To explain: we get half a day a week off from work, to go for teaching. Don't get me wrong, I love teaching, but somehow, half-days just aren't what they're supposed to be. People spend half
of the time going for coffee, or sitting around complaining about inappropriate consults. My half-day is Friday morning, and as I sit at half-day, inside I'm burning with the need to get back to patients. Every second spent listening to complaints makes me think about how my patients are losing out because of this waste of time.

I'm unhappy to be there. Meanwhile, everyone else calls it "protected time" (a phrase I hate, obviously) that is their right by contract to take off from work.

Incredibly to me, I finally found support for my position in the writings of Rumi:

The intellectual is always showing off;
the lover is always getting lost.

The intellectual runs away, afraid of drowning;
the whole business of love is to drown in the sea.
Intellectuals plan their repose;
lovers are ashamed to rest.
-- Rumi

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

i cherish half days. i'm burnt out on work, my job, my co workers, my life. i need a half day from consciousness, something to get the fire going again. glad to see you are anxious to interact with patients though. :)

Tall Medstudent said...

Hmmm, am, it sounds like you need a nice long holiday!

Anonymous said...

I'm guessing that you didn't make the big move yet.

Tall Medstudent said...

High-ups in the admin discovered that I was trying to switch, and put a stop to it. I'm a second-rounder, and forever branded as such, so I don't deserve the same rights as first-rounders.

Needless to say, I'm not a happy camper at the moment.

Tall Medstudent said...

LOL, actually, this situation may force me to return to the US in a year and a half. Me, the consummate defender of the Canadian system...

am said...

alive?

Tall Medstudent said...

Still alive and kicking... how are you doing, a.m.?

Reynard said...

Thanks so much for the post, quite helpful piece of writing.
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