Let’s not insulate ourselves

It has been a while since I last wrote on this blog. The reason is silly: I have been expecting significance, a greater meaning from my posts. So here I go:

I am five weeks deep into medical school. The five weeks have been fine. Medical school is medical school. Nothing incredible, nothing amazing, nothing horrible. It has its pros and cons, just like any other program. But I am not writing to rant or rave about my education. Not yet. I am writing to let something out. Bear with me, please, as I struggle with some thoughts.


America is supposed to be a country of ideas, a country where ideas rule, where reason wins. Sometimes the ideas are wrong, propagating a wave of –ists that we are more than ready to forget. The compassionate American will recognize the problems and face them, address them, and challenge them.

I knew a compassionate American. To me he was a teacher, a role-model, an inspiration. I admired the way he used his words to explore what it means to be human, what it means to be an American, living the fuck-ed-ness of our society. He explored lines of thought that the average American prefers to seal off, pretending they do not exist, under the cover of our flag.

This compassionate American hanged himself two days ago. Am I disappointed? Yes. What will I do? Try to be compassionate. Ideas live on, as long as we want them to, right?