[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.79,0:00:19.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thanks very much.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.17,0:00:23.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, here's a doctor from New York,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.03,0:00:25.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,dressed in black,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.61,0:00:28.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,talking to you on September 13th.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.54,0:00:32.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And you're going to think\NI'm going to talk about death,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.38,0:00:37.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as did all New Yorkers\Nover the past many days and weeks.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.95,0:00:39.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, I am.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.49,0:00:44.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I'm going to talk with you about that
Dialogue: 0,0:00:44.68,0:00:48.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in terms of joy and in terms of truth.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.87,0:00:52.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I need to tell you\Na little bit about my medicine
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.55,0:00:54.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in order to get to the joy.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.67,0:01:01.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Todd is right that I came to medicine,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.20,0:01:05.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not knowing a whole lot about it,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.48,0:01:10.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I came to medicine\Nbecause I was a life-long reader.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.60,0:01:13.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was the kind of kid who would get\N10 books out of the library
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.56,0:01:15.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and read them all before they were due,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.81,0:01:18.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I hope many of you were like that too.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.03,0:01:25.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And as a reader, I understood,\Nonce I opened my practice,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.94,0:01:30.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,once I finished all the business\Nof staying up all night being an intern,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.79,0:01:37.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that what I did in the office,\Nwhat patients paid me to do,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.30,0:01:42.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was to pay exquisite attention\Nto the narratives that they gave me -
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.03,0:01:44.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which were in words, in silences,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.76,0:01:50.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in those facial expressions\Nthat we saw earlier today,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.88,0:01:54.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in their body, in how the body changed,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.08,0:01:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the tracings and pictures\Nthat we had of their body,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.07,0:02:03.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in what other people said about them -
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.14,0:02:08.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that it was my task\Nto cohere these stories
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.32,0:02:12.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that they, at least provisionally,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:12.14,0:02:13.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,made some sense;
Dialogue: 0,0:02:14.29,0:02:18.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to take these multiple\Ncontradictory narratives
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.91,0:02:25.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and let them build something\Nthat we could act on.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.48,0:02:27.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So that's what we did.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.83,0:02:29.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I realized right away
Dialogue: 0,0:02:29.10,0:02:33.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I didn't know very much about stories\Neven though I was a voracious reader,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.99,0:02:38.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I went kind of timidly\Nto the English department -
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.53,0:02:40.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was at Columbia already -
Dialogue: 0,0:02:40.16,0:02:41.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I went to the English department;
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.76,0:02:43.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I said, "Could you teach a doctor
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.49,0:02:46.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,something about stories\Nand how they work?"
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.98,0:02:47.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And God bless them,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.99,0:02:51.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the English department\Nwas very happy to take me in.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.42,0:02:56.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, I wrote prescriptions for them;\N
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.31,0:02:57.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.75,0:02:59.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I gave them referrals.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:59.86,0:03:06.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I think they really joined me\Nin the idea that the knowledge they had,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.50,0:03:10.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,very specialized narratological knowledge,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.57,0:03:14.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,could do something good in the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.06,0:03:19.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They didn't let me out\Nuntil I had a master's degree, a PhD.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.32,0:03:25.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They let me write a dissertation\Non Henry James, who is my beloved author.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.81,0:03:33.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I want to tell you\Nhow the story training -
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.04,0:03:37.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,awakening and nourishing\Nmy own sense of story -
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.32,0:03:42.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how it transformed\Nmy teaching and my practice.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:45.01,0:03:50.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This was not the first time that anyone\Nhad put literature with medicine.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.56,0:03:52.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By then - this was the '90s already -
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.76,0:03:57.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by then, there were persons in -\NI hope you know this -
Dialogue: 0,0:03:57.32,0:04:01.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in philosophy, in history,\Nin literary studies, in ethics
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.78,0:04:05.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who had come into medicine,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.26,0:04:09.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they were all helping us\Nto improve our practice
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.23,0:04:12.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,based on human learning
Dialogue: 0,0:04:14.01,0:04:17.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in addition to the scientific\Nknowledge we all had.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.54,0:04:19.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, I was by no means the first one
Dialogue: 0,0:04:19.29,0:04:22.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to bring literary studies\Ninto the practice of medicine.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.98,0:04:25.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But somehow, by starting as a doctor first
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.73,0:04:31.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then getting all this training\Nin stories and how to understand them,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:31.76,0:04:33.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think I had a more -
Dialogue: 0,0:04:34.52,0:04:39.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my sleeves were more rolled up\Nin using this knowledge.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.49,0:04:44.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So my colleagues and I at Columbia
Dialogue: 0,0:04:45.30,0:04:50.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,kind of invented, or created, a field\Nthat we called "narrative medicine,"
Dialogue: 0,0:04:50.93,0:04:54.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which we define very simply\Nas clinical practice
Dialogue: 0,0:04:54.88,0:04:59.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fortified by the knowledge\Nof what to do with stories.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:59.87,0:05:02.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So that with these skills -
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.72,0:05:06.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in first of all having a sense of story,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:07.29,0:05:12.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then being able to recognize\Nwhen someone is telling you a story,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:12.15,0:05:13.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to absorb the story,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:13.59,0:05:15.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to receive it whole,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:15.54,0:05:17.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to receive all of it,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:17.19,0:05:23.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,including even those unsaid\Nhints and guesses
Dialogue: 0,0:05:23.79,0:05:26.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about what might be left unsaid,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:26.84,0:05:28.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to absorb them,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:28.29,0:05:29.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to interpret them,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:29.68,0:05:31.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to honor them,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:32.28,0:05:34.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then to be moved by them
Dialogue: 0,0:05:34.46,0:05:37.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and to be moved by them to action.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:37.42,0:05:40.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So this is what we called\Nnarrative medicine.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:43.74,0:05:49.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We found very effective, economical ways
Dialogue: 0,0:05:49.27,0:05:50.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to teach
Dialogue: 0,0:05:50.82,0:05:57.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the skills of reading and writing\Nand storytelling and receiving
Dialogue: 0,0:05:58.10,0:06:01.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to medical students, nursing students,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:01.57,0:06:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,doctors, social workers,\Nchaplains, patients, families -
Dialogue: 0,0:06:06.64,0:06:10.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all the people who come\Nin and out of hospitals.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:11.01,0:06:14.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm assuming that some of you\Nare from healthcare,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:14.94,0:06:20.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,either as professionals\Nor as patients or as families.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:20.39,0:06:26.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know the kinds of silences\Nthere are in those elevators in hospitals.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:26.17,0:06:30.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know what happens\Nwhen you pass someone in the hallway
Dialogue: 0,0:06:30.85,0:06:35.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who has no legs or who's bleeding.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:35.21,0:06:37.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know that.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:38.15,0:06:43.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our challenge was to bring\Nto these people,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:43.04,0:06:46.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,perhaps used to illness,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:46.32,0:06:49.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,perhaps hardened against it,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:49.76,0:06:54.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,ways to open their own springs\Nof imagination,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:54.55,0:06:55.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of creativity,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:55.92,0:06:57.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of receptivity
Dialogue: 0,0:06:58.25,0:07:03.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that they would not just\Nnot lose their sense of story,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:03.62,0:07:07.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but, indeed, build it.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:10.45,0:07:14.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There were amazing\Ntransformations in my practice.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:15.40,0:07:20.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I work in a rather shabby clinic\Nin Presbyterian Hospital,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:20.32,0:07:25.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is in New York - in the way,\Nway upper parts of Manhattan -
Dialogue: 0,0:07:26.72,0:07:33.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and as I improved\Nmy own capacity to read closely,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:33.27,0:07:35.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where every word counts,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:35.35,0:07:39.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was able to learn how\Nto listen closely,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:39.68,0:07:41.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where every word counts,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:42.41,0:07:47.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, in the office,\Nwhen I saw a new patient,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:47.50,0:07:50.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I wouldn't ask millions\Nof questions anymore,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:50.85,0:07:56.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like, no doubt, many of you\Nhave been asked by doctors.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:56.11,0:07:59.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Typically what we do,\Nfaced with a stranger,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:59.58,0:08:03.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is we kind of start at the top\Nand work down.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:03.29,0:08:04.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm sure you've had this:
Dialogue: 0,0:08:04.62,0:08:05.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Do you have headaches?
Dialogue: 0,0:08:05.83,0:08:07.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Do you have nosebleeds?
Dialogue: 0,0:08:07.45,0:08:10.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Do you have trouble with your hearing?\NWith your swallowing?
Dialogue: 0,0:08:10.66,0:08:12.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Do you have trouble with your breathing?
Dialogue: 0,0:08:12.61,0:08:13.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And all the way down.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:13.100,0:08:15.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And what operations have you had?
Dialogue: 0,0:08:16.04,0:08:17.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And what allergies do you have?
Dialogue: 0,0:08:17.54,0:08:19.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And what medicines are you on?
Dialogue: 0,0:08:19.59,0:08:21.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I learned not to do that,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:21.82,0:08:23.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and instead to say,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:24.29,0:08:26.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I will be your doctor,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:26.10,0:08:28.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so I need to know a great deal
Dialogue: 0,0:08:28.41,0:08:32.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about your body\Nand your health and your life.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:32.54,0:08:36.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Please tell me what you think\NI should know about your situation."
Dialogue: 0,0:08:37.85,0:08:39.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And when I did that,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:39.65,0:08:43.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and when I let persons simply answer,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:43.08,0:08:48.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,instead of writing things down\Nor typing or computing,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:48.82,0:08:51.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I would simply sit in my chair,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:52.11,0:08:53.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,hands in my lap,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:53.66,0:08:56.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and absorb what was being said.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:57.31,0:08:59.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And what I learned,\Nright from the beginning,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:59.69,0:09:06.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that persons were not only able\Nbut deeply thirsty
Dialogue: 0,0:09:06.22,0:09:10.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to give profound, detailed,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:10.36,0:09:13.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,eloquent accounts of themselves.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:14.33,0:09:16.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They didn't always know how\Nor how to start.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:16.82,0:09:20.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One woman says, "You want me to talk?"
Dialogue: 0,0:09:20.03,0:09:21.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:09:23.97,0:09:29.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Another man, one of the first\Nto whom I made this invitation,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:30.42,0:09:33.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,started to tell me\Nabout the death of his father
Dialogue: 0,0:09:33.52,0:09:35.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then the death of his brother
Dialogue: 0,0:09:36.19,0:09:39.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then the trouble he was having\Nwith his teenage son.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:40.42,0:09:42.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then he starts to cry.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:43.35,0:09:46.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I broke my silence:\NI said, "Why do you weep?"
Dialogue: 0,0:09:46.80,0:09:51.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He says, "No one\Never let me do this before."
Dialogue: 0,0:09:55.26,0:10:01.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So a woman I saw - I just saw her\Na few days ago when I made a house call.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:01.37,0:10:04.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, she's been my patient\Nfor a long time.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:04.25,0:10:05.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She -
Dialogue: 0,0:10:05.26,0:10:08.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as anyone I speak about\Nor [write] about,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:08.02,0:10:09.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,knows what I'm to say,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:09.62,0:10:11.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has read what I've written
Dialogue: 0,0:10:11.16,0:10:15.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and has given, as we say,\Ninformed consent for me to do so.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:15.18,0:10:17.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I'm not breaking any secrets.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:17.62,0:10:23.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I certainly won't use the name,\Nbut she has - we have her blessings.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:25.10,0:10:27.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She had breast cancer 20 years ago.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:27.87,0:10:29.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She had a mastectomy -
Dialogue: 0,0:10:29.95,0:10:32.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sorry, she had a lumpectomy,\Nsmall operation.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:32.85,0:10:36.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She was on medicine for five years;\Nshe was told she was cured.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:37.81,0:10:43.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,About a year ago, she developed\Na lump in that same breast.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:43.31,0:10:46.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On biopsy, it was a new cancer.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:46.64,0:10:49.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She was stoic about the recurrence.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:49.42,0:10:51.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She underwent a mastectomy this time.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:51.84,0:10:55.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a big operation;\Nit was a disfiguring operation.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:55.75,0:10:58.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She declined breast reconstruction.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:58.60,0:11:00.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She said she was too old for that.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:02.05,0:11:06.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And she recovered uneventfully\Nfrom the surgery.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:07.13,0:11:12.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But then she began to worry\Nthat the cancer would come back.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:12.89,0:11:15.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She was in my office every other week.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:15.29,0:11:18.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On the off-week, she was\Nin the office of the breast surgeon.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:18.76,0:11:19.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She felt a new lump;
Dialogue: 0,0:11:19.84,0:11:21.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,she felt something funny under her arm;
Dialogue: 0,0:11:21.84,0:11:24.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there was something\Nnot right about the scar.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:24.39,0:11:27.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She was terrified that it would come back.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:27.35,0:11:28.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We kept reassuring her:
Dialogue: 0,0:11:28.87,0:11:31.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"No, that's just how the tissues heal";
Dialogue: 0,0:11:31.51,0:11:35.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"No, that's your cancer markers."
Dialogue: 0,0:11:35.50,0:11:39.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We did blood tests\Nto make sure there was no cancer.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:39.02,0:11:43.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I did an ultrasound of the scar.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:43.90,0:11:46.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She could not be reassured,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:46.32,0:11:49.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so she thought\Nthat we were deceiving her.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:50.78,0:11:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Finally, after another one of these exams,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:54.38,0:11:56.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,breast examinations in the office,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:56.92,0:12:01.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I thought I could imagine\Nwhat was deep to the scar.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:02.35,0:12:05.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I leaned back\Nagainst the sink in my office.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:05.97,0:12:09.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I told her I thought\NI understood what the fear was.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:09.70,0:12:15.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I told her I thought what she feared\Nwas that she would die,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:16.44,0:12:21.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that she had the courage and the vision\Nfrom these two illnesses
Dialogue: 0,0:12:21.69,0:12:26.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to know what many of us know\Nbut refuse to really face up to:
Dialogue: 0,0:12:26.03,0:12:28.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that is simply we will die.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:29.11,0:12:34.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I told her that I thought\Nshe was in the glare of this knowledge.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:35.24,0:12:39.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I said, "We don't know\Nwhat will end your life.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:39.70,0:12:44.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Your body may well harbor now\Nthe disease that will do so.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:44.08,0:12:45.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It might be the breast cancer.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:45.70,0:12:47.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It might be something else.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:47.94,0:12:51.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But we know something\Nwill take your life."
Dialogue: 0,0:12:51.98,0:12:58.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I said I couldn't do more than we had\Nto assure her of her health,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:58.54,0:13:01.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but here is something I could do:
Dialogue: 0,0:13:01.25,0:13:06.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I could stand with her\Nin the glare of that fear.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:07.99,0:13:12.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And right after that conversation,\NI checked back with her by phone.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:12.36,0:13:13.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She said she felt much better.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:14.05,0:13:15.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She felt much more relaxed.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:15.92,0:13:19.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She wasn't worried the way she had been,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:19.70,0:13:22.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and she was sure that I was right.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:23.34,0:13:25.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, the way I knew that,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:25.22,0:13:29.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the way I came to understand it\Nis that I'd been writing about her,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:29.99,0:13:33.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I'd been showing her\Nwhat I wrote about her.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:33.10,0:13:38.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in that way, we made contact\Nthrough her illness,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:38.16,0:13:39.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,through her fear,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:39.59,0:13:42.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,through the glare of death
Dialogue: 0,0:13:42.30,0:13:44.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that was there now, in the room with us -
Dialogue: 0,0:13:44.98,0:13:46.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as it always is -
Dialogue: 0,0:13:46.54,0:13:49.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but there it was in the room with us,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:49.29,0:13:50.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we could ...
Dialogue: 0,0:13:54.48,0:13:55.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,accept it.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:56.48,0:14:00.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And more than that,\Nwe made contact through it.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:05.10,0:14:11.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It helped me and this woman\Nto understand what medicine is for,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:12.32,0:14:13.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and even bigger than that,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:13.96,0:14:19.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in excess of the medicine,\Nwhat ordinary living is for.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:19.40,0:14:22.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's for the making of contact.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:22.94,0:14:24.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's through the contact.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:24.93,0:14:27.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And of course, illness exposes,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:27.77,0:14:30.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that I'm privileged as a doctor
Dialogue: 0,0:14:30.22,0:14:36.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be in situations where there is\Nvery little separating me from a patient.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:36.16,0:14:38.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Do you see what I mean by "exposes"?
Dialogue: 0,0:14:38.96,0:14:44.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You're down to the floor of who you are\Nin the presence of illness.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:47.86,0:14:53.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, not only did we kind of help\Nthe immediate problem
Dialogue: 0,0:14:53.19,0:14:55.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with her own fear,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:55.96,0:15:02.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but we made enduring,\Nlife-long contact -
Dialogue: 0,0:15:02.87,0:15:04.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the two of us.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:05.78,0:15:08.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is possible all the time.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:08.64,0:15:11.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is possible all the time.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:12.16,0:15:13.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I told her -
Dialogue: 0,0:15:13.22,0:15:19.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think I told her about a novel\Nby John Banville called "The Infinities,"
Dialogue: 0,0:15:19.65,0:15:22.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in which he overhears Zeus
Dialogue: 0,0:15:22.16,0:15:24.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,up on Mount Olympus
Dialogue: 0,0:15:24.32,0:15:28.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,looking down at these mortals\Nthat he's created,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:28.04,0:15:33.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Zeus envies the human beings\Ntheir mortality.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:33.80,0:15:38.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He says, "It's your death\Nthat gives your lives meaning."
Dialogue: 0,0:15:38.75,0:15:41.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so my patient and I understand that,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:41.65,0:15:45.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that it's in the dying,\Nin the limits of the life,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:45.72,0:15:47.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that we have our meaning,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:47.82,0:15:53.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that we pour ourselves\Ninto those things that endure -
Dialogue: 0,0:15:53.49,0:15:58.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the family, progeny,\Nwork, art, dance,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:59.28,0:16:00.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,life,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:00.64,0:16:01.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,play.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:02.06,0:16:05.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Those things that will endure
Dialogue: 0,0:16:06.62,0:16:09.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in time and with others
Dialogue: 0,0:16:09.02,0:16:11.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are those things that give us meaning.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:11.58,0:16:14.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they're only available to us
Dialogue: 0,0:16:14.46,0:16:19.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,through the presence\Nand the truth of death.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:20.15,0:16:22.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I say, "What is medicine for?"
Dialogue: 0,0:16:23.76,0:16:29.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my patients have been able to teach me,\Nas have my students, what it's for.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:29.49,0:16:31.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When we teach narrative\Nmedicine in groups,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:31.93,0:16:37.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it doesn't matter who - doctors,\Nnurses, chaplains, patients, families -
Dialogue: 0,0:16:37.55,0:16:41.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we all join together in a clearing.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:41.100,0:16:47.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These narrative storytellings\Nhelp us to form clearings -
Dialogue: 0,0:16:47.90,0:16:49.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you know, in the forest
Dialogue: 0,0:16:49.46,0:16:53.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when the trees kind of thin out,\Nand it's moss and it's ferns? -
Dialogue: 0,0:16:54.04,0:16:55.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we're able,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:55.34,0:16:58.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,many different ones of us
Dialogue: 0,0:16:58.06,0:17:02.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from often rather divided camps,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:02.70,0:17:07.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,can come together\Nin the clearing of storytelling,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:07.04,0:17:13.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and within the clearing\Nof this human gift of mortality,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:14.44,0:17:17.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that's where the truth is exposed,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:17.64,0:17:21.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that's where the freedoms emit.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:21.84,0:17:24.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What medicine is for
Dialogue: 0,0:17:24.33,0:17:30.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is to donate the expertise\Nto an act of fidelity,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:30.52,0:17:33.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to give someone company
Dialogue: 0,0:17:33.55,0:17:39.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and to form staunch, sturdy affiliation
Dialogue: 0,0:17:39.40,0:17:41.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,within our clearings,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:41.26,0:17:42.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,within our dyads,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:43.03,0:17:45.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,within our shabby clinics
Dialogue: 0,0:17:45.66,0:17:51.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that no one has to be\Nin the glare of sickness,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:51.06,0:17:53.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or even the glare of death,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:53.54,0:17:54.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,alone.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:56.56,0:17:59.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm fortunate to be a doctor\Nto be able to do this.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:59.49,0:18:03.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Anyone in any enterprise
Dialogue: 0,0:18:03.98,0:18:07.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has the chance for making contact,
Dialogue: 0,0:18:07.15,0:18:10.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as in this room - a clearing.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:10.57,0:18:11.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:11.78,0:18:13.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)