randomness from the even more random med-school magazine
An argument for feelinks.
“What’s up with all the feelings, man?” asks the future doctor. Fair enough. There is a time and place for feelings, and albeit a pub-crawl amongst a bunch of hormone-crazed drunk desperadoes (I myself being one of them) is not the best place to start a conversation about emotions. I have endured much mocking, much hostility, much pain and many a night spent crying, purely for my unrestrained displays of feeling. So amidst this antagonism shared by almost all overworked, overbilled, overstressed, overdone med-students – in the face of this deep-seated resentment towards anything “PD-like” – is there a place in the modern world for the little fragile butterflies we call feelings?
My first challenge to all you feeling haters is this – feelings are everywhere, and they govern us in ways that we are not even aware of. For example, when Osama attacked the United States on that tragic day, President Bush didn’t just turn a blind-eye. He felt. His feelings were hurt. And so he reacted. And obviously Osama had feelings too, or he wouldn’t have felt strongly enough about whatever he felt/feels strongly about to have acted in the first place. And so thus the whole bloody mess which tarnishes my morning paper started, and is being perpetuated by – feelings. This is a fact that is seldom realised. What’s more – the manifestation of all these negative feelings as radical and abominable actions are undoubtedly precipitated by the suppression of feelings, and the denial of their importance.
You might argue then – why feel at all? You might contend that if we stopped feeling altogether, then none of this would happen or have happened. But what if I propose to you a completely radical idea – that we modify these feelings. Imagine if Osama called Bush up, and invited him over for a cup of tea and some biscuits. Imagine if Bush accepted, and they hugged and talked about their feelings. Imagine how proud John Lennon would have been of this article. If they just opened up, talked, and hugged, and shared the love, it seems implausible that any madness could have ensued.
If people saw through their egos and just felt more, and focussed on feelings, the world truly would be a better place. Perhaps there is a little place for feelings in our future as doctors. Perhaps, just maybe, being able to feel a tiny bit for each individual patient we come across, just enough to make us actually care about doing a good job and care about their welfare – who knows, perhaps it may make us a little more than skilled automated androids, and make everything just that bit more meaningful.
For those struggling to open their hard exteriors to the fuzzy warmth of feelings, think of this analogy – when you chuck two rocks together they can only cause fire and destroy each other. But when you chuck two marshmallows at each other – there can only be sweet, squishy love. So the next time you’re stressing out about the upcoming exams looking at the ground frowning in gloom while walking across Grafton bridge and are too busy to look up and smile at your fellow citizen, consider a glance, a smile, a pat on the bum, heck – even a peck on the cheek. We need more hugs, more kisses, and more pink soft toys for all.
-Superdha
“What’s up with all the feelings, man?” asks the future doctor. Fair enough. There is a time and place for feelings, and albeit a pub-crawl amongst a bunch of hormone-crazed drunk desperadoes (I myself being one of them) is not the best place to start a conversation about emotions. I have endured much mocking, much hostility, much pain and many a night spent crying, purely for my unrestrained displays of feeling. So amidst this antagonism shared by almost all overworked, overbilled, overstressed, overdone med-students – in the face of this deep-seated resentment towards anything “PD-like” – is there a place in the modern world for the little fragile butterflies we call feelings?
My first challenge to all you feeling haters is this – feelings are everywhere, and they govern us in ways that we are not even aware of. For example, when Osama attacked the United States on that tragic day, President Bush didn’t just turn a blind-eye. He felt. His feelings were hurt. And so he reacted. And obviously Osama had feelings too, or he wouldn’t have felt strongly enough about whatever he felt/feels strongly about to have acted in the first place. And so thus the whole bloody mess which tarnishes my morning paper started, and is being perpetuated by – feelings. This is a fact that is seldom realised. What’s more – the manifestation of all these negative feelings as radical and abominable actions are undoubtedly precipitated by the suppression of feelings, and the denial of their importance.
You might argue then – why feel at all? You might contend that if we stopped feeling altogether, then none of this would happen or have happened. But what if I propose to you a completely radical idea – that we modify these feelings. Imagine if Osama called Bush up, and invited him over for a cup of tea and some biscuits. Imagine if Bush accepted, and they hugged and talked about their feelings. Imagine how proud John Lennon would have been of this article. If they just opened up, talked, and hugged, and shared the love, it seems implausible that any madness could have ensued.
If people saw through their egos and just felt more, and focussed on feelings, the world truly would be a better place. Perhaps there is a little place for feelings in our future as doctors. Perhaps, just maybe, being able to feel a tiny bit for each individual patient we come across, just enough to make us actually care about doing a good job and care about their welfare – who knows, perhaps it may make us a little more than skilled automated androids, and make everything just that bit more meaningful.
For those struggling to open their hard exteriors to the fuzzy warmth of feelings, think of this analogy – when you chuck two rocks together they can only cause fire and destroy each other. But when you chuck two marshmallows at each other – there can only be sweet, squishy love. So the next time you’re stressing out about the upcoming exams looking at the ground frowning in gloom while walking across Grafton bridge and are too busy to look up and smile at your fellow citizen, consider a glance, a smile, a pat on the bum, heck – even a peck on the cheek. We need more hugs, more kisses, and more pink soft toys for all.
-Superdha
posted by SuperDha at 6:42 pm
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