Psychiatrist Dr. Stuart Brown said that the opposite of play is depression.
I firmly believe that doctors experience burnout because they have forgotten how to play. But if anyone deserves to have more fun, it’s people who keep caring for others each day they step into work.
Think back for a minute: when did life stop feeling fun?
When did you last play for the sake of pure enjoyment and not worry about any career goals? What did you love to do as a child? What did you love to do in high school and during your undergraduate studies?
I’m 100% sure that you were interested in lots of things before attending medical school. But I’ve noticed that medical training tends to beat the sense of fun and creativity out of you. It’s as if there’s the pre-medical-acceptance-you who played team sports, volunteered, travelled, and experimented with hair colours, and then the post-residency/staff work-a-bot whose main hobbies are to clear their Epic queues and debate which specialties give the stupidest consults.
When I attended medical school at the University of Toronto, two choices helped me temporarily relieve the formaldehyde-induced headaches resulting from hours of dissecting cadavers in the anatomy lab.
The first choice was enrolling in violin lessons at a music conservatory. My headaches would disappear while scraping away at Twinkle Twinkle.
The second choice was my habit of stopping by an old wooden post board on the northwest corner of St. George and College. Here, I could pause for the day. Here, I would plan all the fun things I would do in my limited spare time and with my limited budget as a pre-clerkship student: free screenings of the Hot Docs Festival at Innis College, Massey Lectures at Convocation Hall, $5 Hart House lunches, a student production of the Tempest performed along the Philosopher’s Walk, the Alfred Hitchcock retrospective by the lake, dreamy scholarship listings for studies abroad, and college book sales—these were the rhythms of my academic life.
How full of innocent fun my life felt then!
Strangers on the street (in Toronto!) would smile at me, because I was smiling at the world. I vowed that I would never forget to enjoy life like this—to learn and connect to my fullest capacity for joy, ideas, and meaningful experiences.
And so it was only natural that when I experienced burnout that I turned to a hobby to help me recover. I think “hobby” is one of the loveliest words in the English language. A hobby is defined as a “regular activity done for enjoyment.”
The first hobby I chose was photography.
Did I have tons of leisure time to study photography? Of course not. Like many busy women, I stuck photography classes into a free evening here and a squeezed hour there. It took me 6 years to learn the skill, but becoming a photographer completely changed my outlook on life.
Did I know that photography would be so meaningful? Of course not. But I was curious and followed my main clue: my tension headaches disappeared in photography class just like they did years ago during my violin classes! I could feel my nervous system relax, the tension release, and the absorbed focus take over.
The key to finding a meaningful activity? Don’t use logic to overanalyze your choices. This isn’t like choosing a medical specialty or a place to live–this should be fun and easy! Try something small that sounds fun that you could complete in less than half a day. Maybe attend a talk at the library or try a mini-course online or join a local workshop. Pay attention to the enjoyment and curiosity without worrying too much about the end goal. If it’s fun, do more! If it’s not fun, feel free to change it.
Someone once advised me that I shouldn’t decrease my shift load because I would be bored once my kids got older.
Seriously? As I write this blog, I’m still celebrating over the Canada vs. Qatar 6-0 World Cup win–but I’m trying to work hard here writing my blog as one of my favourite hobbies. You could clone me three times over and one Dawn would have her hands full with oodles of hobbies.
In the next blog, I’ll share some of my favourite ways to find meaningful activities even with your busy schedule.
Question: “What’s one thing you’d love to explore just for fun?”
