As we came over the crest of the mountain and the lagoon opened up in front of us, bounded on either side by the towering peaks of Salkantay and Humantay, I was struck by the sensation of togetherness. My grandmother had been here, in this exact spot, decades earlier—I had grown up admiring the photos on her wall. She had climbed these same hills, scrambled over these same boulders, stopped and stared at this same stunning view. Though we were not together at the moment her soul left her body, we were here together now, across time, linked by the permanence of this wonderful wilderness and our love for it. I built a small cairn next to the lake, one of many along the rocky bank, and I left it there as a crude statue to my grandmother and to the power of this place to connect our spirits. Whatever happened, wherever I might be in whatever time, we were always here together. —Sophie Karwoska Kligler, MS4, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York
Photo by Amy Ondeyka, MD, FACEP
I think one overlooked treatment for burnout is animals. My dog, Sawyer, has the uncanny ability to wipe the slate clean after a horrible shift. He is a constant reminder to live in the moment and enjoy life to the fullest. We should be so lucky to have even an ounce of that attitude. —Amy Ondeyka, MD, FACEP,
Inspira Health Network, Vineland, New Jersey
Photo by Megan Barthels, MS4
Exploring the outdoors serves as a lens to focus the chaos in life for me; it allows me to return my focus to what is important in life. Similarly to this picture (above), where the landscape goes for miles and miles but the rocks allow you to focus in on one specific area to explore, I find that spending time in the outdoors allows me to break away from many of the excess thoughts and worries that plague me on certain days and focus on the things in life that bring me joy and peace. Like the rocks in the picture, the outdoors center my attention on the things that I value. —Megan Barthels, MS4, Medical College of Wisconsin-Green Bay
Photo by Adrian A. Palmer, MS4
I always forget how happy I am when I’m outside. It can feel hard to plan, to pack, to get moving. But once I’m out, that always changes. My worries melt away as I give myself permission to be here and in this moment. Being out in nature and seeing the beauty of the world just reminds me of how lucky we are to be here and how full of wonder the world is.
—Adrian A. Palmer, MS4, Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Indianapolis
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