Graduation Week

Just a few thoughts as the 2008 class of the Program of Integrative Medicine traverses the final week of our fellowship - together.

Dec 7, 2008
The fellows trickle in... many beautiful moments becoming reacquainted with such wonderful people, kindred souls. We gather to share a meal at circular tables. The buffet held the familiar sights and aromas of healthy, tasty food. Happy faces, hugs, laughter - wow, how blessed I am to be back in this space. I share conversations with Layth from Michigan (a familiar face, an unfamiliar story) and Randy Horowitz, one of the fellowship instructors, who was amazingly a fellow in Allergy at the University of Wisconsin 1n 1993 when I was a medical student. What a small world.

What follows is another circle. A circle of beings in a room to greet each other, fill each other in on the last year. As our opening ceremony begins, Tieraona Low Dog and Victoria Maizes lead the way. The fellows sequentially present to their classmates gifts - tokens of themselves symbolizing what the fellowship has meant to them. 70 small but thought-filled, meaning-filled gifts. Lotus flowers, acorns, mandalas, poems, songs - expressions of our uniqueness, our journey, our compassion. As the ceremony closes Tieraona sings a song in her native tongue - we know not the words but are moved none-the-less. What a great beginning to that which is promising to be a wonderful week...


Photo: Sunset in Tucson 12/07/08