This week, I'm in Peru; our days so far spent between Lima, Cuzco, and the Sacred Valley.
Tomorrow: a visit to Machu Picchu.
It’s been wonderful reconnecting with long-time global health friends and collaborators through amazing food, but equally amazing stories, that have given me insight of Peruvian perspectives on issues unique to their country, but also, the broader common problems that face us all.
I've also appreciated spending time with my family of origin, and learning about the rich and complicated history of the Incan Empire and the Peruvian state together with Mom, Dad, and my sister.
Taking in the ruins and their history has also been a stark reminder of the impermanence of life; how, like the ancients, our everydays will likely, too, be lost centuries hence, forgotten to our descendants many generations removed—which, paradoxically, makes how we live and choose all the more important in shaping our shared space and time together.
Fitting, since checking in on LinkedIn brought me momentary FOMO at not having joined colleagues at various conferences (including my usual annual Preventive Medicine drop-in with my American colleagues in DC!) in a reminder that we can’t do it all; that opportunity cost is a thing, and that we’re always managing competing calls.
But while I hope to be return to a future Preventive Medicine, a week in Peru with the origin famjam doesn't always pop up on the radar.
In this way, I’m applying the opening chapter lesson from the draft memoir I've penned on ‘Life Lessons from Pandemic Leadership.'
That chapter recalls the first week of January 2020 that saw my wife and I take our kids to Disney, leaving me disquieted; it was time I didn't have amid reports of a novel pneumonia in Wuhan and newly legalized cannabis edibles. Unable to disconnect, I took numerous calls and media interviews on the latter—including a radio one off Main Street USA, with the brass band in the background—which stole time away from an earned family vacation.
Despite all that, Disney (obviously) ended up being the best week of 2020; two years of COVID-19 response soon taught me that I should have been more grateful and present in the moments I’d earned with my loved ones.
This week I haven’t cracked my Spanish language book (though daily use has been good immersion!) and the edits to my memoir proposal and other work have sat untouched. I've been reminded, though, that even amid my creative sabbatical, it's vital to take a break—especially if it's not an everyday opportunity with our nearest and dearest.
Of course, noting the privilege I’ve had to do so in the manner that I have, I'm most reminded that, no matter what we do, finding balance is so vital to ensuring we can keep bringing our best in tackling our collective challenges.
This post originally appeared on Lawrence's LinkedIn profile.
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