It is still autumn in the Pacific Northwest. The leaves are still turning (and still mostly on the trees) unlike their brethren back East which are now (if memory serves) are probably quite a bit passed their “leaf peeping” prime. No snowstorms have come our way to spoil nature’s firework display, which has helped preserve the fiery landscape of our season into November.
We always talk about autumn and the changing color of the leaves as marking the end of one season and the beginning of another. We say, “the leaves are turning color” every year as though it is some magical, mystical process. It certainly seems a little bit like magic: one day everything is ordinary and green and the next day (almost like a switch being thrown) everything has been transformed into a sea of crimson and gold. Green is so boring in comparison. But the fact is (and this is the most amazing part about autumn!) the leaves don’t actually change: All those reds, oranges, and yellows so brilliant in the autumn—those pigments are always there. Latent. Waiting. They are the natural inner fire of the leaf. But you can’t see the fire normally because it is masked (overwhelmed) by an illusion of green. The chlorophyll conceals the fire and all the leaves look alike to us on the street. But underneath, of course, it is a very different story.
People are a lot like leaves. We admire the uniformity of green on the outside at times, but really it is the inner fire, which, in leaves as well as in people, is the most beautiful and the most true. To get at that fire in a leaf takes a spectacular series of events that nature has perfected over time. But how does one unlock that fire in a person?
Just like my leaf example, I have come to believe that all people have an inner fire and the latent capacity to do amazing, beautiful, and downright extraordinary things. Transformative things. If this fire is cultivated carefully, it can spring forth and ignite the flame in others. I have seen it happen in my own life. As a student, I had preceptors and mentors who ignited the flame in me. They saw my inner fire, nurtured it, and were able to unlock abilities in me that I didn’t know I had. As a new practitioner, I feel a responsibility to help nurture and cultivate the development of others, as I have benefitted so much from the careful tending by mentors in my development as a pharmacist. I do believe we need to dig down “beyond the green” and help people unlock their own potential because, likely, some people will be fooled by the green, and they will (wrongly) believe there is nothing else there. And they will cease to try. Cease to accomplish what they are capable of. And cease to live in the fullness of the gifts that they have been given. We all need help to remember that the fire is there sometimes. Autumn can serve as a reminder to “go beyond the green” every year and mentor someone in the profession: a colleague, a student, a resident.
What does your inner fire look like? What will you use it to accomplish? For your patients? For your profession?
#InpatientCarePractitioner #Resident #PharmacyStudents #NewPractitioners #Leadership #Mentorship #Residency