Lessons from a pandemic root canal
Oh, hi friends!
I’m sorry for skipping yesterday but I was getting an emergency root canal in the epicenter of a global pandemic.
Let me back up…
Last week a problem tooth — one that was slightly annoying before all this — started giving me real trouble. Waking up at 3 a.m. in agony, popping antibiotics, saltwater rinsing for hours kinda trouble. That trouble continued for four days — resiliency at its best! — until it was clear this wouldn’t resolve with some amoxicillin, and I was referred to a root canal specialist taking emergency patients.
Her office is in midtown Manhattan, right next to Carnegie Hall. I’m in Brooklyn. Riding the subway is not an option. So perfect and ingenious Colin devised a bike route for us to get up there — seven miles there, seven miles back — and we set off in the afternoon.
A few hours later, I was euphoric. The root canal didn’t hurt — Dr. Kim is the da Vinci of endodontics — and on the bike ride home, I was giddy and grateful.
Grateful for no more pain. Grateful for the level of care and patience shown not only by this doctor and her office manager, but by the two other dentists and specialists who aren’t currently able to work but texted and called to help me get treatment (if you need recommendations, let me know!).
Grateful to bike through an empty Times Square, knowing it was empty because everyone in my city is compassionate enough about each other to stay home.
Sometimes reaching for the brass ring means finishing a major project, hitting a revenue goal, or typing THE END.
And sometimes it means going numb and getting your molar’s roots scraped for an hour.
The end result for either is a sense of relief. A closing of a chapter, and the ability to move forward with new perspective.
I wish that for you today (under much less strange or painful circumstances).
Onward.
“Defensiveness does not protect us from other people. It defends us from fears we don’t want to feel.”
Oof. Can you relate? I’m thinking about this especially when it comes to collaboration or getting feedback on our work. (My favorite sign of defensiveness is retreating into silence!) I spoke to expert Jim Timm about the warning signs of defensiveness — and how to combat them — in my latest story for TED Ideas.
Hope it gives you some value — he certainly opened my eyes.
Chill Music For You
I’m finding this song “Wild Geese” by Weatherman to be especially soothing and atmospheric right now! Her band name now is AM Higgins and her new YouTube is here. (h/t Brass Ring friend Jason Toth)
Do you like these daily emails? Please share with a friend!
Thanks, as always, for reading.
Love, Kara