Takeaway
We can’t control all external stress, but we can choose our response. Awareness and restorative practices can help cultivate inner peace.
Creative arts in medicine | April 29, 2026 | 1 min read
By Frank Clark, MD, Prisma Health-Upstate, South Carolina
Aboutness
Our minds can flow
with the currents of
peace or war,
self love or self hatred,
conquerer or conquered,
victor or victim,
stoicism or neuroticism.
To swim in chaos is to be swallowed by the depths of oceanic despair that leaves us
Breathless.
To float on stillness is to understand the
depth of power we have over our responses when folly spews its daily diatribe.
April is Stress Awareness Month. As healthcare professionals we’re submerged in pools of chaos yearning daily for placidity. We’re inundated with the 24/7 breaking news cycle, while attempting to respond to personal and professional inbox messages in a timely manner. Additionally, our core beliefs of what it means to be a “good enough” spouse, parent, friend, adds to our allostatic loads resulting in despair and burnout.
My poem, “Aboutness” was inspired by my growth and development of what it means to embody inner peace. This inner peace promotes the freedom and the power over how we start and end our day, despite the external forces that attempt to conquer our minds.
This piece expresses the views solely of the author. It does not necessarily represent the views of any organization, including Johns Hopkins Medicine.