Shield to Kindness

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“I have a lot of unresolved grief,” she confessed.

It was her grief that made her good at empathizing with the hospice community she served.

“Would resolving my grief make me less effective with my patients?”

I asked her what advice she would give to herself. “Be kind,” she said. “Kindness gives permission to grieve.”

Listener Poet Kay McKean

The Gold Humanism Summit

October 2019

she woke each day to adorn her shield

with two different sides,

each generating a different yield.

an armor against her chest, protecting her heart

hugging a soft exterior,

allowing her to do her part.

in caring for others, to whom she would say,

“be kind to yourself”

from which an echo whispered

“be kind to yourself, yes”

and with that she put down her shield to rest

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