Elizabeth Gilbert: Your Elusive Creative Genius

At present, I am struggling to write an article for publishing, after an incredibly long hiatus.

My writing brain feels atrophied. It feels like my genius has left me.

Something that used to come so naturally, now feels forced and staggered.

Inaccessible, unattainable, just barely out of my reach - but I know it's there, and that's what frustrates me.

But the more I try, the more I feel like I'm making progress. I'm finding my way back and opening up inwards.

When I was much younger, after writing a song or a poem, I would often look at my work and feel that I'm looking at something that I did not create, but instead, something that was already in existence all along, just waiting for me to pen it to paper.

And in that realisation, I would feel like a puzzle piece; part of a larger whole. I felt both humbled and honoured to be part of this bigger picture.

Over the years, one of the most important things that I've realised about writing and my other creative pursuits is this.

As with all things, perfect practice makes perfect. There is no shortcut to this rule, regardless of whether you're 13 years old or 31 years old.

This means, that if you have a skill that is important enough to you to want to excel in, you have to make time for it. You have to work at it, and you have to perfect it. Use it or lose it.

When I first enrolled into medicine, I promised myself that I would retain my literary and artistic skills throughout my course. What I didn't know then that I know now is just how difficult it is to do that.

However, letting that part of you atrophy is dangerous. You lose so much from it; most important of which is your sense of self.

What I'm learning at this stage of my life is to now and then take myself away from medicine and nourish my little genie.

And, in the long run? I have no doubt that I will be a better doctor for it.

This Won't Hurt a Bit (and Other White Lies)

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Something To Write Home About...

Hello!

We can now breathe a little easier because I've hung up my 'Melancholy Pen' and I am now writing for good, not evil.

A couple of weeks ago, I entered a competition run by The General Practice Students Network in which I had to write, in 200 words or less, how I would improve the quality of care delivered to my patients if I was working as a general practitioner.

Given that General Practice has been on my list of differentials for specialities since my first year of medical school (with other top contenders being Paediatrics, Palliative Care, and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry), it wasn't too hard to come up with something honest and original.

To cut a long story short, I won!

GPSN has now offered me full sponsorship (including flights and accommodation) to attend the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners' (RACGP) Annual Conference in Gold Coast from the 25th to the 27th of October.

Needless to say, I am ecstatic.

I have been wanting to attend this conference since first hearing about it four years ago, and I'm psyched that I'll finally be able to be a part of it!

Without a doubt, I'll certainly be writing about my adventures in Gold Coast, so watch this space!

At the risk of mortal embarrassment, I've includes my winning entry below.

Go on... Have a laugh.


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When I think of my future and what I'd like to be

I would love nothing more than to be a GP!

Hand in hand with my patients, I will solemnly swear

To provide them with good continuity of care

I will listen and hear all their worries and sorrow

To ensure that my given advice they will follow

I will keep up-to-date with the research and times

To practice Best Practice on these patients of mine

Health-promotion and prevention will be my main aims

Towards better healthcare and Medicare claims

My colleagues and I will work busy as bees

To help ease the burden of chronic disease

To all specialists and nurses - my new found best friends

I will effectively communicate my patients' trends

As for all younger juniors and doctors-to-be

I will act as a mentor for all those to see

I will teach by example and learn like a sponge

Advocate for my patients, I will take the plunge

I will fight without end to end suffering and strife

And focus my passion on learning for life

Evidently I hope it is now plain to see

That I'd love nothing more than to be a GP!

Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?

For as long as I can remember, my answer to this question has always been 'Yes'.

I often look back to reflect upon my ultimate downfall (i.e. University) and think, "How do I reverse the damage?"

I never fully engaged myself in school (I found it brimming with silliness and preferred to have as little to do with it as I possibly could, with the exception of instances when it was beneficial for me) and therefore, growing up, I retained a strong sense of self and what was important to me.

My family and my upbringing made this incredibly easy. My parents built a beautiful world around me in which I was capable of anything and everything; a world where my potential was limitless, and that personal growth and development mattered far beyond the realm of personal gratification. I was raised to be curious, to value innovation and creativity, and to care.

Sadly, somehow along the way, I fell out of that world and into my current one, and it caught me quite off-guard. Understandably, I soon suffered from an adjustment disorder.

It has taken me a while to uncover my diagnosis, but my journey has led me to the underlying epiphany that, quite simply, I don't belong here.

Finding my way back to my world - a world in which I can thrive - is by no means an easy feat. My mind is now so strangely convoluted towards negativity that I cannot recognise it anymore and, like a fish out of water, I am suffocating.

It is painful, and very much a struggle. It hurts to be here, and it hurts to turn back.

But, you know what? At least turning back will lead me to a place that I know is good because I've been there.

Even if it's not here, I do know a place where I belong. The trick is finding my way back.

Karen Armstrong: 2008 TED Prize - Charter for Compassion

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