Since the spectre of MIS-C (the pediatric inflammatory syndrome related to COVID-19) has raised its head, we have worried about the children—those that belong to us, and those that belong to others.  So it is heartwarming to see the Brooklyn Youth Choir, healthy and strong, singing their hearts out to Dear Evan Hansen’s “You Will be Found.”  Coronavirus is fierce, but so are these kids—and so are we.

This year, life took an unimaginable turn.  Many of us will never be the same.  We’ve encountered great suffering, but also had amazing moments of strength, connection, and accomplishment.  We’ve gone down Robert Frost’s road less traveled, “and that has made all the difference.”  This poem is 104 years old, and becomes more meaningful as time goes by.

Where would we be without music? Five minutes of harmony can help quiet weeks and months of uncertainty and frustration. Listen to this virtual choir, put together by the Podd Brothers with church choirs from around New York City, perform “How Can I Keep From Singing?”

How can we? The sun is out and spring is thrilled to be here. Life goes on.

Thank you to Monika Bolino for sharing this piece with us.

Life during the pandemic has been marked by interruptions: interrupted relationships, projects, and plans for the future. Can we begin again? Derek Walcott’s “Love After Love” says that we can.

Thank you to Dr. Shari Platt for sharing this poem.

The Dying Swan was first created by choreographer Mikhail Fokine expressly for Anna Pavlova. Critics said it was “the most exquisite specimen of art which [Pavlova] has yet given to the public.”  While the dance is about death, it is full of the desire to live.  Fokine called it “a symbol of the everlasting struggle in this life and all that is mortal.”  In this video, The Dying Swan is performed by thirty-two prima ballerinas from companies around the globe. Perhaps the will to live that they embody will remind you of patients you have cared for or people you have known.

We all know what “the curl of a plant” feels like under our fingertips, how the mist feels on our skin, and what a canoe sounds like moving through the water. We have all felt the rain on our necks and arms. Since today is sensory Saturday, and the sky is dark and rainy, take a break and enjoy every image invoked by Joy Harjo in her poem “Praise The Rain.”

As we move through the stages of the pandemic, I find myself thinking about the people who came before us-- those who cared for patients during the 1918 flu pandemic, The AIDS epidemic, and many others.  They probably felt many of the same emotions that we do.  For this reason, I love this collaboration between generations of Les Miserable cast members, from 1987 to the present.  There must be so many years of wisdom and experience that can be passed down from one Jean Valjean and one Eponine to the next.  Enjoy this intergenerational group singing: “Will you take your place with me?”

Thank you to Dr. Shari Platt for sharing this link.

What will this summer be like? Will there be a second wave of COVID-19 in the fall? Brooklyn-born poet and spiritual advisor Mark Nepo often writes about living in uncertainty, and the importance of living fully in the present. This poem reminds us to “lay all distractions down," at least for the moment.

Thank you to Dr. Michael Stern for sharing this poem.

Singing from their homes and call-rooms, this Toronto-based choir of women physicians joined together to sing “Rise Again.” The song was written by Leon Dubinsky, and made popular by The Rankin Family, a musical group from Nova Scotia. The song was written to inspire resilience and solidarity during an economic crisis on Cape Breton Island in the 1980's, and Dubinsky has said that it is about “the meaning of children, and the strength of home given to us by our families, our friends and our music.” I am grateful for this strong group of women for their work and their music.

What will be your life’s work? This question has come sharply into focus for many people during this pandemic. What do we hope to achieve over a lifetime? Poet Mary Oliver reminds us to honor our “one wild and precious life.” Take stock of what matters, and move towards it.

Lucille Clifton was a mother of 6, a New Yorker, and a celebrated poet and educator. Her poem, Blessing the Boats, brings to mind all those who are starting out-- whether they are newly minted medical and nursing students, residents, or seasoned scientists setting out to build a body of knowledge about COVID-19. This blessing is for their journey and ours.

This year, graduations nearly became another casualty of the COVID-19. But many have risen to the occasion and found creative ways to celebrate the graduates of 2020. It's a wonderful reminder that life goes on, and that COVID-19 doesn't always win. Thank you to Dr. Renu Mital for remembering all the graduates this weekend, and finding this performance of the national anthem by high school seniors.

Dr. Mital wrote: “To all the graduates of 2020 ...My heart feels for you...but know that your future is bright and there will be great days ahead. Hold your head up high and make the world a better place.”

It’s a breathtakingly warm, beautiful Saturday—perfect for sensory Saturday. This video, put together by Riverdance cast members all over the world, brings you the wind over the rocky beaches of Ireland, a bagpipe, the deep green landscape around a cottage in Ukraine, the rain on a country road in London, and a waterfall in Buffalo NY. And some amazing dancing. Enjoy every minute.

What do Bryan Adams and Justin Beiber have in common? About as much as a dermatologist and a psychiatrist, or a colorectal surgeon and an emergency physician! But these pairs have indeed worked beautifully side by side-- virtually via OnDemand, and in the flesh-- during the COVID19 crisis. The silos vanish when the work is critical. Enjoy this version of “Lean on Me” by Canadian artists Bryan Adams, Justin Beiber, Michael Buble, Fefe Dobson, and others. Special message from Justin Trudeau at the end.

To skip the ask for contributions, start at 0:30.

Thank you to Dr. Shari Platt for sharing this collaboration.

There is a lot we don’t know. Now more than ever, we are aware of uncertainty about how the body and its predators work. But some things are certain. Actress and poet Judy Prescott demonstrates this reassuring truth in her poem “Captive.”

Thank you Dr. Michael Stern for sending this poem.

This week, discussion has turned to ways to renew patient care, education, and research in the wake of COVID-19. We are cautiously re-opening the doors and windows of our metaphoric house, and re-imagining the floor plan. The process brings to mind Maggie Smith’s Good Bones, which is about the human ability to create the beautiful from the terrible.

Nurses are the front-most of the hospital’s frontline workers. They greet the ambulances, they are the first to lay hands on each patient, and they enact all of the care that each patient receives. On the last night of Nurse’s Week, James Blunt’s “The Greatest” delivers a powerful message about the skill, caring, and grace involved in the Profession of Nursing, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m grateful to them today and always.

“So be the young, the brave, the powerful
'Cause the world is standing waiting for someone to come and change it”

Thank you to Dr. Shari Platt for sharing this link.

The New York City Ballet premiered choreographer Justin Peck’s “The Times Are Racing” in January 2017. Instead of ballet slippers and leotards, the dancers wore sneakers, loose tee-shirts and jackets that read: “Resist,” “Unite,” “Act.” The piece was meant to reflect chaos, anger, despair and joy, and was described as “a space to process contemporary life, and maybe experience catharsis.” It was, therefore, the perfect choice for a virtual performance during these strange times of COVID-19.