Ron, the author of Vent, compares his life to a series of takes in a film. What a unique way of describing life’s experiences! But believe me, it does fit Ron “to a t.” This Philadelphia native not only is a professional actor and jack of all trades, but also a story teller extraordinaire.

Out of the many excellent takes, I have chosen one upon which to bestow the Post of the Day Award that is at the same time both profound and personal.

It concerns Reincarnation or, if you prefer, that feeling of “déjà vu.” In Reincarnation . . . Living Before, Ron shares a very personal take on past lives. He sums up his philosophy on the subject this way:

I believe that life is like attending school and the whole purpose of being here is to experience things that my soul has come to learn. And I also believe that it may not be possible to experience these things in one single lifetime.

How to explain feeling familiar and comfortable in a place where you have never traveled to? I haven’t personally experienced “déjà vu,” but it is quite uncanny to hear of stories like these.

All of this started for Ron when he left with an acting troop to perform for two months in Kobe, Japan.

Now Japan was not a place I ever had the desire to visit, nor was it a place I ever thought would hold any interest for me. But I accepted an acting job because I thought it would be something new to experience, and also because the salary was very attractive.

Enter Japanese stage left, American actor:

No matter how bad you may want to go to another country, there will always be some culture shock once there. It all depends on your character and your ability to adapt to new situations. After all, we are all the products of our culture. I should know; I’m a U.S. expat who has spent the past 18 years living in France.

But what happened to Ron is no less amazing. He did not get culture shock or freak out; he totally tuned into the country and its culture. And in a very deep way . . . tears, emotions and a feeling of what Ron calls “a deep connection.” So much so that when his plane was leaving Japan, he said to a good friend, “I feel like I’m leaving my home.”

I encourage you all to read this beautiful post.

Even if you personally do not believe in reincarnation, you can’t deny that something special happened to Ron in Japan.

It is with pleasure that I declare Reincarnation . . . Living Before the Post of the Day and wish Ron many more interesting takes on life to share with the world!

Barbara

{ 5 comments }

{ 3 comments }

Vivienne eavesdrops on conversations other people are having. She does so in all kinds of places — stores, restaurants, Vegas casinos, the community pool . . . She does it because she believes that “people-watching is the best show on earth.” And her readers are glad she does because she what she overheard and how she happened to overhear it in an engaging manner, dispensing wry wisdom and subtle social commentary in the process.

Today Vivienne receives the Post of the Day Award for her October 1, 2008, entry, Dying to Vote.  This time, she listened in on a conversation between two American teenagers who found “Beverly Hills 90210″ fascinating, but could not be bothered educating themselves about the United States’ current economic crisis or the latest developments in the Presidential race.  Vivienne encountered a couple of young girls who, in those and many other respects, were just quintessential American kids.

However, the conversation she listened in on took place in a salon while she was getting a pedicure, the one indulgence she will not give up despite the rough financial times.

I will not tell you more about Eavesdrop Writer Blog or, more particularly, Dying to Vote, because you must read Vivienne’s work yourself in order to appreciate the beauty of her straight-forward approach to storytelling and experience its impact.

Congratulations, Vivienne.  Keep eavesdropping because I am a loyal reader and look forward to more “imagination stimulation from overheard conversations for creative writers and curious readers.”

{ 1 comment }

If you have ever watched a television program or movie about medical professionals responding to a crisis, you have no doubt seen stereotypical characters including the cool, unflappable, experienced physician, the arrogant, overly-confident resident or the nervous, bumbling intern. QuietusLeo teaches his readers that reality is probably somewhere between those extreme portrayals.

“Some men are born cool, some achieve cool, and some have cool thrust upon them.”

QuietusLeo, paraphrasing Shakespeare

In No, not that four letter word, the other one, QuietusLeo instructs that “doctors aren’t supposed to fear . . . anything. But fear is there. Sometimes it’s ‘normal,’ for example, fear of failure, fear of causing a patient pain, fear of losing a patient (all the more acute in the case of children), etc.” A healthy dose of fear or anxiety is appropriate, but in the extreme “can can be counterproductive and even dangerous - it paralyzes the mind when quick action is warrented, for example, during an emergency.”

QuietusLeo speaks from experience: He is an anesthesiologist and Advanced Cardiac Life Support instructor who teaches his students that doctors’ feelings of fear and anxiety must be controlled during, but examined and processed following a medical emergency.

Hubris, in medicine, is the original sin. The only thing that disgusts me more than incompetence in a physician is vanity. Hubris is born of fear. Fear of exposure, fear of failure and fear of showing weakness. When you see a vain person, scratch the surface (one may need an ice pick) and you will discover a coward. Not a coward in the sense of external bravery, but one who won’t face his/her own failings. Such a person has stopped growing, learning and improving. When that happens, our greatest fear, of harming our patients, is most likely.

QuietusLeo describes the approach he uses with his pupils, recounting an encounter with a young paramedic.

The Post of the Day Award is bestowed upon QuietusLeo because he No, not that four letter word, the other one grants laypersons a glimpse of the pressures and stressors that medical personnel face and must overcome as they respond to each unique medical emergency. As a mentor, he is providing invaluable advice and tutelage to up-and-coming physicians which, in turn, will improve the value of the services delivered to those individuals’ patients in the years to come.

Congratulations and thank you, QuietusLeo!

{ 4 comments }