Points of Interest, #41

And now, the moment you have been waiting for all week.  No– not that moment.  It is the moment when yours truly presents the best, the brightest, the most informative, interesting, and entertaining of my sojourn on the internet.  Today I have gratitude, no worries, losing recognition of our own face, the God of the future, marrying biblical sisters, Scrubs and the end of life, and a football team without a home field, and eloping six year olds, amongst a lot of other really, really good stuff.  So dig in and enjoy the best of the internet (I could find)-

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Points of interest, #37

Welcome one and all to an irregular installment of my irregularly irregular collection of the very best of all things mind, soul, and body on the internet (That I could find, anyway).  Today I have Mormons and basketball, Pygmy Tarsiers, Mogwai, kilobunnies and kilorats, the spirituality of chess, and husbands in the doghouse to help heal your social phobia, ADHD, Bipolar, Depression, amnesia, self harm, or whatever else it is you are in need of.  So here is all I got…

Points of Interest, #36

The long awaited end to the hiatus is here, at least temporarily.  I break it in the way you may have come to expect, by sharing all the stuff I would have written myself, if only I were bright and talented enough with lots more free time.  So I present, especially for my faithful readers, both of you, the very best of the internet I could find over the past while or so

Points of Interest #29

It’s here again and back on schedule.  This week I’ve got emotion, fear and stigmatization on the mind, parables, heaven and hell and success for the soul and whoopee cushions, spleens and lots and lots of protein for the body, to name just a few.  So without further delay I present especially for you, the reader, the creme de la creme of the internet I happened to have stumbled across surfing the internets-

Points of Interest #26

Well, well, well, welcome to Mind, Soul and Body’s 100th post.  I guess that makes my collection of gems found surfing the internet just over a quarter of my posts.  Most blogs have about a three month lifespan and I am happy to have surpassed that.  I wonder if that means I am in this for the long haul, at least for the rest of residency, which is coming up on the end of one long, long road.  This week was a very strong one on the medicine, brain, and soul internet and I had to leave out an unusual number of posts.  Without futher delay I present only the best of the blogosphere (IMHO)- 

It isn’t good to be alone

     When I was in medical school, I was treated by my wife to a fascinating and gripping performance by Tom Hanks in the movie, castaway.  While I can’t say the movie was profound or life changing, I found its depiction of isolation and loneliness was quite powerful.  In the movie, Tom Hanks works for FedEx, where the plane he is riding crashes into the ocean.  He is the sole survivor marooned on an Island. 

     It is a very basic man vs. Nature plot, as he creates fire, steps on bad things, hurts his hand, bleeds, has a basic cavity volcano into a horrific abcess in the absence of a dentist, etc. al etc.  In the midst of all this, washing up on the shore of the Island with him are a few FedEx packages, one of which containing Wilson volleyball.  It happens to be nearby when he mauls his hand in a firemaking attempt and he smears blood on it.  A little later he fashions the stain into a face, cleverly calling it by the moniker splayed across the ball itself, Wilson. 

     The amazing part of the movie is that as Hanks feels more and more isolated, he anthropomorphizes the ball more and more.  He converses with it throughout the movie as a friend and confidant.  After some years, he escapes the Island on a makeshift raft, Wilson in tow.  As he sleeps, the ball falls off the raft and floats away.  Hanks is besides himself, grief stricken, and forlorn, and wails pitifully for the return of Wilson.  The audience themselves (well me, anyway)  experience this surprising sense of loss as well.  We grieve as He grieves.  Thus, the intrinsic human need for other human contact is put on bright display.  It is a need so powerful that in its absence we will create it out of contact with the inhuman, even the inanimate.  It turns out humans have a basic need for each other. 

Castaway, the story of a plane wreck survivor and the volleyball he loved. (now that's lonely)

Relationship catch 22

Do men and women weaken themselves in order to bring out the best qualities of the opposite sex?  I am starting to wonder.  Many women I have known throughout my life have a dream of taking the man, rough around the edges, and healing him, making him a better person.  What could be more admirable? If you want to melt a woman’s heart, let her know that she makes you want to be a better person.  This is ultimately Christlike and truly an admirable impulse, embodied in the story of Beauty and the Beast.  There is something amazing about the idea of the magically transforming female bringing out the best in others through love.  I think there is also a dark side to this perception. 

Points of interest #21

My own recent deficiencies notwithstanding, this has been an especially powerful and abundant week for the mind, soul and body on the Internet.  There is more to share than I had room for.  It sometimes seems I spend more time bringing everyone else’s work than I do in my own writing, but know this- I do it especially for you, the reader.  What good is wisdom and knowledge if not shared among people.  So partake and enjoy the best of the Internet-