Monthly Archives: February 2021

Research indicates that many Covid nurses have most likely advanced beyond burnout and are now suffering from “moral injury,” a term typically applied to combat soldiers that the Department of Veterans Affairs defines as a response to “acting or witnessing behaviors that go against an individual’s values and moral beliefs.

Just finished a three-day stretch in the ER. I work 12.5 hours each shift, so that’s 37.5 hours in 3 days. And it’s not a normal job, that’s for sure.

It’s a job filled with sadness, tragedy, and death. Oh, did I mention the frustration of trying to stabilize patients who’ve spent a lifetime of neglect to arrive at a such a state of disarray that you’re not quite sure what calamity to treat first. Hint: it’s the one most likely to kill you before you get out of the ER.

Yet I’m still fascinated and turned on by the whole process. And the best part of all?

I get paid to help people in their most vulnerable moment of need. What a privilege to be entrusted with.

I’ve often said – there’s only three ways you’re leaving the ER: you’re either discharged back to wherever you came from, admitted and transferred to floor, or you’re packed up in a body bag and sent to the morgue.

Explaining the latter to the spouse and loved ones is one of the most difficult aspects of practicing as an ER nurse. You’re constantly reminded of the fact that we’re all, give or take, going to end up in the same place.

But still – at least for now, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

As I understand it, humans gather together in large groups bound by geography and form societies. Over millenia, new languages are born and cultural customs and religions coalesce.

In order to control what would otherwise become a coalition of violent tribes constantly at war with one another, humans created something called government. The idea was that this would bring order to a lawless world and protect those who might otherwise be exploited.

In the process of establishing this government, safeguards to protect the population would be implemented, and various branches would ensure that the infrastructure needed to provide essential services to the people was always functioning.

So why does America seem to be reverting to “a coalition of violent tribes constantly at war with one another.”

Are we going forwards or backwards here, folks? “

‘Cuz I don’t know what you see from where you’re sitting, but I see a shitstorm up ahead.

“In Barry Malzberg’s fine novel, Herovit’s World, the protagonist argues that rewriting his work would rob it of the spontaneity that is its only virtue. And I believe it was William Goldman who defined revision as “washing garbage.”

– Lawrence Bloch

Ok – I didn’t research this (or even spend that much time thinking about it, really), but I just listened to a great interview with Jodie and Marc Maron on his podcast. OMG was it good…

So here’s a few Jodi Foster roles you might want to check out if you’re interested in high-level acting/producing/directing by a woman. She’s formidable – and I mean that in the best possible way.

The real deal.

Anyway, here we go:

1. Taxi Driver
2. The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane
3. The Accused
4. The Silence of the Lambs
5. Nell
6. Little Man Tate

That’s enough off the top of my head.

I always have time for an artist like this.

There is nothing more charismatic than someone who is completely comfortable in their skin. They are magnetic – we can’t take our eyes away.

The closer you get to expressing who you really are, the more undeniable you become. It’s as if being vulnerable enough to expose yourself makes you more attractive, not less.

So why don’t we do it?

Fear.

Go back to basics.

What are the simplest things that give your life meaning?

Yeah, do those.

Did you have fun making it? ‘Cuz if you did, that means it enriched your life, even if it was just for a few moments.

Don’t downplay the importance of that.

In a cruel and uncaring world, that may be the only meaning you get.

Isn’t that enough?