The Way Back with Ben Affleck is a movie about a guy finding his way back from hell - it's about loss, about alcoholism, and about life long, deep rooted anger. "We can't change the past; what we can do is choose how we move forward." This movie will tug at your heart strings and…
The Trail of a True Human Being
Nothing causes people to refocus priorities more than tragedy. Here we are, walking through life, juggling work and family and trying to find balance - when BAM! Out of nowhere something happens that triggers a drastic shift of thinking. I was 17 watching the Space Shuttle Challenger liftoff from my desk in high school and…
Someday…the train will come
Under the Tuscan Sun is about a woman (Diane Lane) who buys a large house in Tuscany, on a whim, after a painful divorce has drastically changed her outlook on life. "You have to live spherically, in many directions. Never lose your childish enthusiasm and things will come your way." She realizes as she's remodeling…
Take Chances – Make Mistakes
"Take chances, make mistakes. Sometimes it's important not to be perfect. It's important to do the wrong thing!..... To find out what's real and what's not, to find out what you feel. Human beings are terrible messes." ~ Portia, Bicentennial Man It's so true, we humans are a terrible mess. We make mistakes and do…
Pressure System Release
"Every pressurized system needs a relief valve. There has to be a way to reduce the stress, the tension....there has to be a way to find relief, because if the pressure doesn’t find a way out, it will make one. It will explode. It’s the pressure we put on ourselves that’s the hardest to bear.…
Apollo 13 – what events may transpire
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the return of the Apollo 13 astronauts to earth. So, in true Hollywood form, there have been documentaries and space movies on all day - and in true Shawn form, the stories have me comparing chronic sickness to the "successful failures" of space travel. In all these stories, there…
How Can I Help
Max Goodwin, the Medical Director of New Amsterdam Hospital (yes, another tv reference) when faced with employees who are frustrated and complaining, asks one question: "How can I help?" In these chaotic and somewhat frustrating times, it's so easy to get sucked into debates about statistics and get frustrated with the way people are (or…
How Did You Survive?
In the movie Anna and the King, a woman asks Anna about losing her husband: "How did you survive?" To which Anna replied, "The same way you will, one awful day at a time." I see a lot of people panicking right now - our local schools are shut down, even though we don't have…
Keep breathing
Cast away is one of my favorite movies and even though there is an obvious connection to sickness leaving me stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere with power over nothing, it still moves me to stay alive, keep breathing, against all hope and logic. I don't want to die - but sometimes…
We did not ask for this room or this music; we were invited in. Therefore, because the dark surrounds us Let us turn our faces toward the light. Let us endure hardship to be grateful for plenty. We have been given pain to be astounded by joy. We have been given life to deny death. …
PhilippiJoy 