January 2021
EDITOR'S NOTE
Dear Villagers,
Well, friends, are you ready for a new year? I have seen predictions that run the gamut from abject pessimism to unbounded optimism. Given the events of 2020, it would be so easy to give in to cynicism, to complain about all that we have lost, and all that we may yet lose in the coming year. So very easy to voice sentiments of hopelessness and despair.
May I offer this little bit of philosophy, with some background from my own life? As a child, I dreamed of becoming a world-renowned neurosurgeon (don’t ask me where I got that) who would perform near-miraculous operations to save people. My journey through life has taken me on a very different path, one I could simply not have predicted. I became a Registered Nurse, and would be hard-pressed to elaborate all the different things I have done because of that degree. My journey as a nurse led me into working in our local county jail. The last 15+ years have been spent in that environment, where I have flourished professionally. At age 60, I earned a Master’s Degree and became a Family Nurse Practitioner, still in the jail. At age 68, I transitioned to working as a Psych Nurse Practitioner.
My wife laughs when she reminds me of a statement I once made: “If you had told me when I was a teenager that I would be teaching safe sex to young black men in a jail, I would have laughed my head off.” But that became part of the overall care that I delivered, along with other health education, encouragement, and treating not a few cases of athlete’s foot. Now, as a mental health practitioner, I work with patients who have significant needs and challenges, who respond to me as a person, and whose lives are made at least a little better because of my unique personality.
Here’s the philospy: I was never destined to save the world, never destined to flit around to foreign countries being a medical savior, never destined to be noticed or praised by society. I was destined to make a difference right where I am, one patient at a time. And that’s how I am approaching 2021. I am going to continue to make a difference right here where I am. I can’t fix the rest of the world, but I can be a light right here in my small corner of the universe. I am content with that. Be a light, right where you are. Light always conquers darkness.
Submissions are open for the February issue of Verse-Virtual. There is no theme.
[Insert standard rant about following the guidelines. #NoMercy]
Well, friends, are you ready for a new year? I have seen predictions that run the gamut from abject pessimism to unbounded optimism. Given the events of 2020, it would be so easy to give in to cynicism, to complain about all that we have lost, and all that we may yet lose in the coming year. So very easy to voice sentiments of hopelessness and despair.
May I offer this little bit of philosophy, with some background from my own life? As a child, I dreamed of becoming a world-renowned neurosurgeon (don’t ask me where I got that) who would perform near-miraculous operations to save people. My journey through life has taken me on a very different path, one I could simply not have predicted. I became a Registered Nurse, and would be hard-pressed to elaborate all the different things I have done because of that degree. My journey as a nurse led me into working in our local county jail. The last 15+ years have been spent in that environment, where I have flourished professionally. At age 60, I earned a Master’s Degree and became a Family Nurse Practitioner, still in the jail. At age 68, I transitioned to working as a Psych Nurse Practitioner.
My wife laughs when she reminds me of a statement I once made: “If you had told me when I was a teenager that I would be teaching safe sex to young black men in a jail, I would have laughed my head off.” But that became part of the overall care that I delivered, along with other health education, encouragement, and treating not a few cases of athlete’s foot. Now, as a mental health practitioner, I work with patients who have significant needs and challenges, who respond to me as a person, and whose lives are made at least a little better because of my unique personality.
Here’s the philospy: I was never destined to save the world, never destined to flit around to foreign countries being a medical savior, never destined to be noticed or praised by society. I was destined to make a difference right where I am, one patient at a time. And that’s how I am approaching 2021. I am going to continue to make a difference right here where I am. I can’t fix the rest of the world, but I can be a light right here in my small corner of the universe. I am content with that. Be a light, right where you are. Light always conquers darkness.
Submissions are open for the February issue of Verse-Virtual. There is no theme.
[Insert standard rant about following the guidelines. #NoMercy]