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: healing
Showing 6 results:
The Myth of Ready
This week, I tried a simple AI morning brain-warm-up experiment at the suggestion of Alex Morgan from The Neuron.
I gave ChatGPT this reflective prompt: Share one interesting assumption I might hold without realizing.
The response: Sometimes we assume we need clarity before we’re allowed to move....
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Feb 06, 2026
action
balance
burnout
clarity
contribution
creativity
decision
default mode
direction
equlibrium
experimentation
growth
healing
insight
leadership
learning
metaphor
mindset
momentum
movement
neuroscience
paddleboarding
progress
reassessment
recovery
reflection
resilience
rest
strategy
thinking
uncertainty
The Casting Room
I’ve been reflecting on how easily past training experiences (or any experience for that matter) can be oversimplified by those who didn’t live them.
It took me a minute to understand why that bothered me. It's because those oversimplified accounts tell a very narrow story of some of the very exp...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Jan 31, 2026
burnout
compassion
grace
healing
healthcare
humanity
humility
kindness
medicine
mentorship
perfectionism
professionalism
reflection
residency
resilience
stress
suffering
surgery
training
trauma
vulnerability
witnessing
Right Pause, Right Time Story and Reflection
Years ago, I was leading a medical team in Southeast Asia after the tsunami. Infrastructure was gone, local health workers were either missing or tending to their own communities, and our team, hosted by a local NGO, was running long, hot, and emotionally heavy days.
One morning, something was of...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Jul 31, 2025
awareness
breath
burnout
clarity
cohesion
compassion
connection
emotion
gratitude
healing
humanity
insight
intention
leadership
listening
medicine
mindfulness
observation
pause
perspective
presence
purpose
recovery
reflection
resilience
restoration
support
sustainability
teamwork
wellbeing
The Extra Mile - Story and Reflection
Recently, I’ve been supporting my mom from afar as she’s gone through a complicated health issue. Like many patients, she didn’t show up with a single neat explanation. She had two separate issues—Occam’s razor didn’t apply. That alone created delays and misdirection, but this story isn’t about w...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Jun 12, 2025
bandwidth
care
care over efficiency
clarity
connection
discernment
effort
empathy
experience informed action
family perspective
generosity
going above and beyond
gratitude
groundedness
healing
healing moments
humanity
intention
leadership
meaningful
meaningful effort
medicine
pacing
perspective
physician humanity
presence
prioritization
professionalism
relational medicine
right effort right moment
silent leadership
timing
wisdom
Optional Suffering
This week I invite you to look for one area of optional suffering you may want to address.
That is one in which you allow your mind to automatically go. I experienced it firsthand after a bike crash left me with broken ribs. (There's not even a cool story to go along with it - I just make a rash ...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Jun 08, 2025
acceptance
awareness
change
clarity
compassion
discomfort
distress
emotion
focus
habits
healing
mindfulness
perspective
presence
reflection
regulation
relief
resilience
suffering
thoughts
Grief and Gratefulness Reflection
Today, I reflected on a conversation with a colleague about how difficult it is to lose patients to medical conditions. They work with a population of patients who sometimes have terminal conditions. But I saw their pain through a different lens - that of a family member and friend to people who ...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Jun 03, 2025
appreciation
caregiving
comfort
compassion
connection
empathy
end-of-life
gratitude
grief
healing
honor
humanity
legacy
loss
memories
palliative
physicians
presence
reflection
relationships
support
terminal
trust
wellness
Joy in Family Medicine – Stories & Reflections