Joy in Family Medicine – Stories & Reflections
Lessons, lightbulb moments, and honest reflections from life inside and outside medicine - served with a side of perspective.
Tags: chaos
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Part Two: Damage and Discovery
Among the casualties of our move was a beautiful glass hourglass that normally sits on my desk. It was a small, beautiful thing, given to me by a friend and doing exactly what it was supposed to do – beautifully measure time.
I think it's great comedic timing that the (now shattered) hourglass sh...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Oct 09, 2026
acceptance
adaptability
aftermath
balance
caregiving
challenges
change
chaos
collaboration
community
construction
damage
delegation
discovery
disruption
endurance
exhaustion
family
flexibility
gratitude
healing
imperfection
leadership
life
logistics
moving
opportunity
organization
overwhelm
patience
perseverance
perspective
planning
preparation
priorities
productivity
recovery
reflection
relocation
resilience
setbacks
stress
support
teamwor
time
trtansition
uncertainty
work
Preparing for Storms, Part 1
I’m writing this on Tuesday morning, September 22, before the storm hits.
To be clear, the actual weather here in Central Washington is supposed to be pretty perfect.
I mean all the things.
Tuesday night: Husband arrives from Alaska. Furniture moving and construction-site Tetris begins.
Wednesday...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Oct 02, 2026
acceptance
adaptability
change
chaos
construction
control
courage
endurance
expectations
faith
family
flexibility
furniture
growth
home
hope
hurricane
imperfection
letting-go
moving
overwhelm
patience
perseverance
perspective
planning
plywood
preparation
preparedness
priorities
readiness
reality
reflection
relocation
resilience
resourcefulness
responsibility
storms
supplkies
surrender
transition
trust
uncertainty
unpacking
vulnerability
Broadening the Differential: A Lesson in Agile Thinking
I've been spending time with colleagues lately exploring the concept of agility in the research literature. And as a result, I keep finding the need for it everywhere.
This week alone, our house build presented a wiring issue that no longer aligned with the original lighting and door-swing plans ...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Jun 12, 2026
adaptability
adaptation
advocacy
agility
anchoring
assumptions
awareness
bias
caregiving
change
chaos
clinical thinking
collaboration
communication
complexity
contingency
curiosity
decision making
diagnosis
efficiency
execution
family
flexibility
growth
home building
humility
insight
judgment
leadership
learning
logistics
medicine
openness
perspective
perspective shift
planning
prioritization
problem solving
realignment
reassessment
recalibration
reconsideration
reflection
reframing
resilience
responsiveness
rethinking
structure
systems
truth seeking
uncertainty
Hurricanes and Turtles, Story and well...
Our brains are pretty entertaining places - especially in the middle of the night - mine offers me random memories seemingly out of nowhere for no reason.
Last night I remembered chasing down a turtle during Hurricane Ivan in 2004 in Pensacola, FL. My husband was operating. The girls and I were h...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Jun 10, 2025
animals
chaos
connection
curiosity
disaster
empathy
fear
heroism
humanity
humor
imagination
impulsivity
instincts
learning
memory
middle of the night
midnight thoughts
nature
nostalgia
parenting
perspective
playfulness
randomness
reflection
resilience
spontaneity
storytelling
surprise
unplanned
unpredictability
Joy in Family Medicine – Stories & Reflections