Do you like donuts? I do! Before you salivate on the screen at the thought, I’d like to introduce a different sort of donut to your plate. This one adds—not calories…just perspective and a bit of uplift—to your life as a healthcare clinician. Sometimes patient care gets hard and we need a renewed reflection of the good we bring.

The sunrise has a quiet way of reminding us who we are beneath the noise of our lives. Before emails, obligations, and expectations rush in, dawn offers a pause—a sacred invitation to refuel the heart and nurture the soul. No matter what darkness or heaviness lingers from yesterday, the rising sun promises renewal. It whispers hope, resilience, and patience, asking only that we slow down long enough to receive the gift.

This blog is a small collection of lessons I learned from the worst leaders I have had along my journey in healthcare. The bosses, managers, and authority figures who taught me exactly what not to do. Here is what happened, here is what I learned, and here is what I do differently now.

December invites us into celebration, but also into chaos. Between the glitter and gatherings, it’s easy to lose touch with ourselves. This season let’s choose stillness. Through spiritual and emotional self-care, we can find peace, presence, and purpose amid the noise. The most meaningful gift we can give ourselves is time to breathe, reflect, and simply be.

Welcome back to the third part of our Self-Care series! This month we are focusing on social and medical self-care.

Welcome back for the second part of the Refueling your Heart Self-Care series! This month we are focusing on mental, nutritional, and physical self-care. You’ve heard the saying: “You can’t pour from an empty cup,” right? We show up as our best selves when our cups are full. And we are able to pour into others—especially the patients we serve—with energy, compassion, and purpose. Remember self-care isn’t selfish, it’s survival!

In our culture, self-care can be seen as selfish. I am here to tell you self-care is a must. The world is changing fast, and healthcare is changing even faster. If we want to remain “sane” or “satisfied” in our roles as healthcare professionals, we must take care of ourselves.

There are moments in life when the world slows down just enough for questions to slip in. In those moments, have you ever asked yourself the following questions: What am I doing with my life? What is my purpose? Am I following my dreams and passions? If you answered yes, then sit back with your favorite beverage and let me introduce myself, as we may become friends!

There is something so mesmerizing, captivating, and healing about sitting next to waterfalls. The falls roar with a purpose, flowing without resistance and keep moving no matter what lies in their path. The water keeps coming and coming. It’s more than just the beauty, it’s a masterclass of several deep lessons intertwined in the concepts of resilience, renewal and surrender. All the lessons it can teach us are excellent reminders when we are running on empty or near empty.

My husband Steve and I have worked on developing a Japanese garden, or what I like to call a Zen Garden that starts right outside our living room window. We decided to put a stone that says “Just Be” front and center. This morning when I looked outside my window into the garden and saw that sign, my soul knew exactly what this month’s blog needed to be. Hopefully the following statements will remind each of us how important just being is as we think about the much-needed balance between doi...