Travel Confessions

“People pack their bags and leave their brains at home.”
So says my mother referring to anyone who leaves the house for more than a day. Walk into an airport, direct your attention to the travelers swirling around and see the veracity of mom’s words. When we travel, and this includes you, we do peculiar things.

We step off moving walkways then abruptly stop to make an adjustment or confer with someone. We have no sense of the chaos we just created. Behind us, people collide with one another as the walkway continues to advance and our bodies block the narrow exit. We leave passports in bathrooms

Batman v. Superman? Really?

I don’t pay attention to the news because if it is important enough, someone will eventually tell me. And so it was the other night when a friend informed me that her young son can’t wait for the upcoming release of a movie called Batman v. Superman.

She further revealed that her child is specifically looking forward to the fights scenes between the two superheroes. “Are you kidding me? “ I declared using my outside voice, “This is exactly what is wrong with our world! Not even Batman and Superman can get along with one another.”

Decisions, Decisions

After another exhausting day working in the Philippines in the weeks after Typhoon Yolanda hit, a few of us were sitting around trying not to talk about work. The conversation turned to upcoming vacation plans and when it was my turn I said, “I have no idea. There are too many choices and I don’t have the capacity to make that decision right now.”

Donald was walking by at that precise moment and overhead the exchange. He stopped before our group and said, “You should go to Cassis, France. It’s beautiful

Roots

Once while standing in the middle of an aspen grove on the top of a mountain in Santa Fe, New Mexico, someone casually pointed out that every aspen tree in sight was connected to one another by the same root system. That each and every tree grew from the same mother line and that all the trees in the colony received nourishment from the same root system. They went on to say that if one tree is not well, the others will divert their own nourishment to that tree so it too can survive. That aspens have the ability to sprout anew in the same area after a fire because the root system is deep in the ground. While the fire rages on top of the ground, the root system is protected and simply waits for the fire to burn out.

5 Lessons Learned While Working with Doctors Without Borders

In the midst of life, as it swirls around, acting upon us and pushing us about, we may forget that our purpose is to learn and to use those learnings going forward. We get caught up with what is happening and forget to take time to contemplate what we have learned. Then someone comes along and unexpectedly forces you to name what it is you have learned when they ask: “Catherine, what are the five things you learned while working in the field with Doctors Without Borders?”