The Missing Muse
This is from a book I was reading to my children this weekend:
“Heroism is a remarkable thing. Oft misunderstood. We all think we understand it because we want to see its seed inside ourselves. That is part of the secret, really, if you gather together stories of heroes, those who have risked their lives for others. Those who have stood against overwhelming odds. Those who have barreled heedlessly into danger with the aplum of a champion diver leaping from the highest platform you find two patterns. The first is that heroes can be trained, not by a government or a military, but by the people themselves. Heroes are the ones who have thought about what they’re going to do and who have trained to do it. Heroism is often the seemingly spontaneous result of a lifetime of preparation, but if you ask these heroes why they risk their lives, don’t do it on a stand in front of a crowd while you give them their medal. Because the truth is they likely didn’t do it for their country or even for their ideals. Consistently across cultures, areas and ideologies war heroes report the same simple motivation. They did it for their friends in the frenzied anarchy of destruction, loyalty to causes and kingdoms alike tends to fall to the chaos, but the bond between people, well, that’s stronger than steel. If you want to create heroes, don’t give them something to fight for; give them someone to fight for.”
–Tress And The Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
Physicians, and nurses too, have always been given a position of respect. But, it was in the year 2020 when we were caught in the storm of the COVID-19 pandemic that those in healthcare were named “heroes”. It was only a few short years prior to that that the legislation in the United States unfolded to create a healthcare system that, inadvertently or not, prioritized metrics other than the patient-physician relationship. That relationship, while intangible, is crucial! As the quote above illustrates, we may start with ideals that provide us the motivation to start our journey. But it is the people in our lives that we have come to love, and care for both emotionally and clinically that motivate us to take that next step over and over again. Without that relationship and the systemic erosion of that all-important bond, the heroes of healthcare no longer have their muse and will stop fighting.
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This is so beautifully written and perfectly timed! Thank you!