November 4, 2014 

Greetings Fellow Healer!

The Healer's Life! Time and Space Oct-Nov 2014 Dr. Elisabeth Crim & Moonstone Center

     Last month I wrote and spoke about Silence.  The response to the video on various discussion groups has been one of largest.  I think this is in part due to how hungry we are collectively for quiet, for silence.  For lack of sound and noise, even seemingly productive, important noise and conversation. 

I had an unusual experience a couple of weeks ago that builds on the topic of silence very easily and powerfully.  I was summoned for jury duty.  I tried to get out of it.  I am very busy.  I speak, I write, I network, and do this newsletter and video, I have a full clinical and consulting practice.  I do not have time to sit for a full day waiting to be called to serve on a jury!  OR so I thought...

I cannot tell you the gift that that forced requiem has been for me.  The jury room was full of comfortable chairs, a few tables with outlets around at various points along the wall. I was allowed to bring my laptop and smartphone, etc.  There was a rule of no talking on cell phones in the room and no loud electronic devices.  There was no t.v. or music.  Occasionally you could hear a few people murmuring quietly in conversation, but overall it was a day of quiet.  I drank it up all day.  I drank it like someone parched for water. 

The additional unexpected gift was the required time and space this jury summons exacted from and for me.  I had uninterrupted time and the space to sit and work on project after project.  I felt my mind expand and drop down into levels of space and functioning I had forgotten could be, and be enjoyed.  The forced time and space required that I disrupt my schedule, adjust commitments, ask the many others who are affected by unavailability to tolerate less than what I had promised or offered as my usual way of doing things.  It forced me to lean on my co-leader to run the Restoring the Healer Consult Group without me the next day if needed.  It forced me to ask of the new members to potentially have a different initial experience than communicated.  It required that I ask for patience, understanding and flexibility of the very patients I serve.  It even required that I work with my own psychotherapist in rescheduling to manage my own routine self-care.  I discovered that things that seemed immovable were not really immovable.  In fact, they were quite movable and with a much less negative consequence than I had imagined. 

Finally, what I discovered was this powerful experience of being part of a larger collective of people.  I was not Dr. Crim, Elisabeth, Wife or StepMom, I was merely another American Citizen reporting as required by law for Jury Duty. There was a profoundly human and equalizing effect I discovered with fellow jurors, patients, clients, colleagues and other professionals.  It strangely and surprisingly gave me a day off from my many hats and roles.  I was forced to not see patients, lead a group, be on the phone every minute, or even do housework or run essential errands.  I was forced to sit quietly for a full day attending to whatever projects I brought with me until directed otherwise by the court.   I joked to one person as we left that I did not think I felt the way I felt that day since high school when you attended classes with the rest of the world at the same hour of the same day, and had no other options.

In the Time and Space required of me that day, I discovered room to breathe, to focus, to experience another level of my brain activity.  I discovered another level or type of energy and capacity to get some important or overdue tasks done.  I discovered a little freedom in this space.  And I liked it.

I invite you, to insert a day of forced time and space, incorporate some quiet and attention to activities that require focus and individual, non-interactive-with-others attention.  It is a gift.  A profound gift I invite you to give yourself.  As long as you are genuine and communicate well, your patients, clients, and family will survive.  You will survive.  And you may accomplish and discover some wonderful things for yourself, and ultimately for those for whom you care and serve.  

Here is a radical idea:  Don't wait for a day to work with your schedule or required duties.  If your life is like mine, it will never fit.  Just pick a day and interrupt everything with quiet focus in a designated space for a set period of time.  See what happens.

Om and Ah!

Until next month,

Peace...and Quiet within Space and Time

    Elisabeth

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