Your Ah-ha moment is being verified hourly. My lovely, doctor daughter. Your heart is pure and that is what is important. Blessings, Mom

Lisa,

I am so impressed with your decision making process! I normally don't make comments on blogs or even read them that often, but this post really spoke to me. Personally, I pray every day that when the universe shows me the signs of my next steps in life that I am open enough to interpret those signs and move closer to what is out there for me. You have done this! Congratulations!

In frustration with my own circumstances, I once spoke with a counselor telling her that I was sure I was destined for more than what I was doing. I asked, "how do I know I am in the right place in my life?". She gave me the most profound answer that gave me so much peace. She said "You are always where your are suppose to be". I think if we truly believe that the Universe helps to guide us, we are always where we are suppose to be even if our minds want more! It is clear that your path was laid out for you and you needed to endure all of your ups and downs to find your way into having medicine be your true calling! I am excited for you and will follow your journey. You GO GIRL!!! You are an inspiration!

Warmly,

Kristin

We need people like you in law as much as we need people like me in medicine! You go girl! I'm blowing pixie dust beneath your mighty wings...
Much love
Lissa

Medicine can only improve for having you back in the fold, Lissa. You can warm it up considerably, and you have a bigger, higher platform than many from which to make this happen. Glad you are ready to help put the soul back into it - allopathy with soul would be ideal!

Lissa,

I'm really struck by your courage and your willingness to listen to that still, small voice and take ACTION! I know what you are going through from personal experience -- although mine is in law and not medicine. I heard the call to become a lawyer and to fight for justice when I was 9 and it never left me, but when I actually did become a lawyer I couldn't believe the horrible system we worked in. Law school was dehumanizing enough, the practice was enough to send me into the depths of despair. But I too have tried to leave and have been pulled back over and over again. Like you, I know I'm expected to make a difference in the system. I became a professor in hopes of doing that, but now I'm really feeling called to practice as well. I thought when I left 7 years ago I would never ever return (I "retired" my license). But the voice is relentless, so now I'm envisioning how I might become the lawyer I think the world deserves. Wish me luck! I look forward to watching your own journey unfold.

Right on Dr. Lissa. You are just so awesome. I couldn't wait to hear more when you said you were going to live in the country but this is the most wonderful news. You have so much to give. Way to go and I wish you the best of luck. xoxo

Jessica, I love you too! See, I listened, love!
Yeah, I think I've renewed my own faith in medicine. There is hope. I am not alone. There are millions out there like me- we are massage therapists and medical students, hypnotherapists and life coaches, chiropractors and doulas, nurses and physical therapists, acupuncturists and herbalists.

We are lactation consultants, spiritual healers, and homeopaths. We are intuitives, therapists, shamans, and osteopaths. We are Qigong masters, guided imagery practitioners, iridologists, radiology techs, art therapists, music therapists, dance therapists, energy healers, and biofeedback specialists.

We are kinesiologists, chakra balancing therapists, faith healers, NLP practitioners, spirit coaches, soul retrieval practitioners, sweat lodge leaders, 12-step program coordinators, ayurvedic practitioners, and workshop facilitators. We are sound healers, nurse practitioners, astrologers, physician’s assistants, and crystal healers.

We are reflexologists, pet therapists, and creativity coaches. We are the woman who works in your nail salon and notices when it’s been a while since you’ve had your pedicure because she really cares. We are the doorman in your apartment building who knows your name and always asks how your day is going. We are the taxi cab driver who listens to your tearful story and offers words of wisdom and a gentle touch of the back of your hand when he drops you off. We are the housekeeper who isn’t just the housekeeper- she’s part of the family.

We are also store clerks, pastors, lawyers, accountants, writers, mothers, nuns, and artists. We are every individual who is willing to do the inner and outer work necessary to be as whole as possible so they can hold another person’s heart in theirs.

And yes, some of us- many of us, actually- are doctors.

Healers come with varied backgrounds, different belief systems, and unique tools in our healing toolboxes, and yet, we are all still healers. If you work in the service industry in any way- and if you open your heart when you’re serving others- you are helping to heal other people, so own it, baby. You are infinitely powerful. You matter. What you do heals. Period.

In other words, we are YOU, if you’re willing to step up to the plate and claim your title.

Who's on board?

Yay :) Inspirational :) It sounds like you are the 'new' doctor this world needs.
It is about treating the patient, in their entirety. And I find that patients need to rework their thinking as well. In order to heal, we have to help ourselves. We have to take responsibility for our own health. The world (ok, or the Western world....) has forgotten that a symptom isn't just a symptom, there is a cause. And that cause involves the whole person, not just a limb, or a kidney or the liver. As a Massage Therapist, I help patients heal as well. And as such, I wear something my patients can relate to - shirt and jeans because they are my equal. I do understand the disenchantment with medicine....

And as a doula-in-training, I wish we could work with more OB-GYN's like yourself... Ones that aren't scared of doing what is right for the mom and baby, not only what has been done in the male-dominated hospitals for centuries..

I'm hoping that more doctors, like yourself, will progress this well-worn institution.

Hurray for epiphanies! They are wonderful things :)

And ME! Good story here...kind of like a best selling drama and you are giving us one or two chapters at a time instead of the whole book....you know we're all going through the same birthing out here, don'tcha??
My continual message of late is.....Be patient, don't expect the new life to look or feel or even taste like your old life......Trust, trust ,trust and when your own self pops out you will love her, more than ever, for perhaps the first time in your life.
It's crazy wild; isnt' it!!!!

Lissa, my love, you are one helluva woman, doctor, artist, mother,leader, friend and much much more. I applaud you. I can't wait to hear more about the next step. It's truly inspiring to me that you listen to your messages, you pay attention to the signs, you keep coming back. You bounce back, in fact. Thank you for always being your authentic self. I can't wait to come to California next year for the US version of Dip in the Nip (or Strip and Dip!) and meet you finally. Wahoo. Love, Maya xx

You go girl! Now that's what I'm talking about...
xoxo
Lissa

Thank you all for your support. And Sarah, don't let the system confine you. Do what you must to get through it and then make it better, in your own way. People like us are out there and patients want what we have to offer. Let's join hand in hand and make this happen!

Who else is on board?

Lissa I can relate to you soo much. I am about to finish my last clinical in occupational therapy and begin my career sometime in October. I've always wanted to be in Occupational Therapy and I love the theory basis and focus on holistic health, client-centered practice (versus therapist as the expert), and allowing self healing through engagement in meaningful occupations, but rarely do I see this type of practice in practice.

Rather than doing planting, woodwork, or even making real beds with clients, we are often doing cones, excersises, and peg boards (when does anyone use cones or peg boards in real life?!).

I have actually considered doing OT through life coaching because part of me thought that may be one of the only ways to practice the way I want to free of the broken patriarchal system. I would also love to do community based practice but there are no jobs especially for entry level because all of these populations (homeless, domestic violence, stc.) are marginalized because of the lack of funding (including for caregivers).

Sorry for the long response but that really inspires me to try and create good practice within my profession (I just hope this isn't an ideal that gets crushed by reimbursment).

Congratulations big time!! And let me know if you need an occupational therapist in your practice ;)

Congrats, Dr. Lissa! If I may (mis)quote from 'The Lord of the Rings'... "Put aside the white coat. Become who you were born to be--in a pink coat!" LOL :)

I'm so excited for you-whatever it is!

I so appreciate the validation. It feels so right the way I'm considering doing it.
And Stephanie, my love- stick with it. I'll need people like you peacefully revolutionizing the outdated patriarchal system that broke my heart. Lets link white coats (uh...pink coats). Okay?

Bless you, my dears
Lissa

The world needs more medicine women like you. I, too, have run across so many of the same issues with "the system" and the patriarchal BS that comes along with it and have wanted to run away with my arms flailing.

But YOU have inspired me to stick with it and do what I'm here to do ... heal. Really heal. Some of us were put here to do it another way, to blaze a new trail. So hard to do within the confines of the system, yet the system itself needs deep healing too.

You are so brave. So much love to you on your journey!

Danielle

You go girl !!!!!!! Now show the rest of them exactly how it should be done b/c let me tell you.... most doctors don't have a freakin clue. As a nurse I've had the privilege of working with a few who do but it isn't really the norm. They seem to forget they are treating a WHOLE person and not just symptoms/disease.

I'm ecstatic for you! Your journey has been a trip to follow along on. So thrilled for you and for all of us!

That being said, I'm sad that it sounds like you will not be coming to live closer to me. I'm just going to have to move back to Marin.

;)

Thank you for sharing your amazing journey. I'd also love for you to be my doctor and pray that more doctors like you can help change the way we view medicine and health in this country.

I cannot wait to hear what you've come up with now. To say that medicine needs a revolution is a gross understatement and I have the energy and the intention behind making that happen...just have to get through this final step of the system first -- my residency. Lissa, I am so excited to hear you put action into a dream that for me, too has been simmering quietly in the background while I've been hoop-jumping. I am telling the Universe that I wish to be part of the revolution once I am free from the shackles of the system, whether it be on my own or with you in some capacity. Just putting it out there now, so I can say the seed was planted once I get to realize the dream, too. Thank you for continuing to be an inspiration. Wishing you all the love, courage, freedom and success in the world -- no doubt it's going to be amazing. Take care!

*wildly dancing around the room while waving pom poms*

This feels just so 'right'!

Many men go through the same process...I retired and quit about 10 times.

Erin, I appreciate the validation. Michelle, I'm here to be your hang glider when you jump! Emily, I'll share deets soon. And Kait, I'm doing this for doctors like you!

Leading the way with firm resolution
Lissa