That's Dr. Howser to you...

Surprisingly, no one in any of my interviews for medical school has brought up that I favor Neil Patrick-Harris.

We're well into interview season and it's starting to wind down as people and places pick one another. I've never been through a judgment process quite like this one and I'm looking forward to it being over with. Listed as one of my soul-defining facebook interests is "looking for people that don't take themselves too seriously," which I expect to be a greater challenge in medical school.

The science is exciting and entertaining to read and nothing gets me jazzed quite like spending time with people - seeing how similar and different we can be at the same time. With that in mind, I'm hopeful that I end up in a place that balances the emotional abuse of a medical education with stretching relationships and strong mentors. I should know by March where the constellation of acceptances, deposits and uhauls align.

In theory this year has been a year off. The way working people talk about taking a year off gives the impression that they're imagining MTV's life-break 2k7/8. Weighing in with the celebrity cameos though, (John Goodman in Nola) are moments when it has felt like one of my most stone-heavy gut-sink times.

I'm so thankful to be present while my family here in Atlanta changes and ages. I know that spending lots of time away from home can translate to missing weddings and funerals - it's one of the biggest hesitations I had for joining the peace corps.

There are many chapters in the Tao Te Ching, but I frequently find Steven Mitchell's translation of chapter 8 echoing in my head:

The supreme good is like water,
which nourishes all things without trying to.
It is content with the low places that people disdain.
Thus it is like the Tao.

In dwelling, live close to the ground.
In thinking, keep to the simple.
In conflict, be fair and generous.
In governing, don't try to control.
In work, do what you enjoy.
In family life, be completely present.

When you are content to be simply yourself
and don't compare or compete,
everybody will respect you.