Living and learning

Aw, Susan totally went and showed me up by posting twice in the last few days, so I'm not feeling quite as creative and witty as I sometimes do. But neither am I tired, so I'll tell you a few things about my trip to California anyways.

I cannot describe how much I love little shops and brick streets and pastries in the window and Italian restaurants whose names and menus are actually in Italian, nor can I articulate what it is about all of it that I love. I think it speaks of a simpler time, when attention was paid to the details, to sitting down and really sharing a meal, instead of just eating; when passers-by knew each other by name; when we weren't constantly running from one thing to the next and had time to swing in for a cup of coffee or a glance around the art gallery. Not that my life has ever been like that, but I have this distant dream that it might be someday, and I often spend my mental wanderings living such a life. But I'm starting to realize that I'll never actually live on a vineyard in Tuscany, and if I did, I'd have to worry about the huge insects and not knowing Italian and being far away from family and sinks that drip constantly. But I can take those moments in every day that remind me to slow down and appreciate life, to savor each breath, and to not let people look down on me for my somewhat disproportionate excitement at seeing cannoli and autographed pictures of Mia Hamm, dog bowls on each doorstep and the mesmerizing waves crashing against the beach, seals playing on the docks and vintage American memorabilia.

I also have un-ruled-out academic medicine from my career path. There's a lot to be learned from current research and those who are passionate about it. Like nanotechnology with the capability of delivering cancer drugs with an exponentially increased efficiency. Or something as simple as the rising incidence of sports injuries or accidental deaths from the "choking game." I learned that I really do know a lot about autism, but only because as a whole, there's still a lot we don't know. And I learned that there's always more to learn. There's a reason I didn't balk at 7+ years of medical education: I like learning. All of you out there who think research needs to be done at a bench with a microscope should take heart. I did. There might be academic medicine in my future yet.