Sometimes more moments of play and spontaneous joy happen in the hospital hallways and public spaces than in the rooms I visit as Dr. Fun E. Bone during clown doctor rounds.
At the end of a recent clown doctor shift, I ran into an older couple looking for a Tai Chi physical rehab class. (Since I am ‘older’ myself, I have to keep things in perspective.) I offered to walk them to the classroom two buildings over.
There was something quite familiar about the fellow, especially in his lively dancing eyes. The bushy, David Letterman-esque woolly beard threw me off, though, but when I heard his voice, I remembered who he was from his volunteer work at the Cancer Institute . . . of which I’m a proud and grateful 15-year alum.
We used to cross paths once a week when I’d playfully gallop down a long flight of stairs and land right in front of the Institute’s front desk, where he’d be stationed.
As we walked to the Tai Chi class, he told me what he remembered most about me was how I was always so engaged with the people I encountered, and with my physical surroundings.
Wow. Humbling and reinforcing that someone noticed.
Be engaged.
Sounds like a corollary of a couple of the basic principles of good clowning: Be interested. Be present.
More tomorrow . . .
At the end of a recent clown doctor shift, I ran into an older couple looking for a Tai Chi physical rehab class. (Since I am ‘older’ myself, I have to keep things in perspective.) I offered to walk them to the classroom two buildings over.
There was something quite familiar about the fellow, especially in his lively dancing eyes. The bushy, David Letterman-esque woolly beard threw me off, though, but when I heard his voice, I remembered who he was from his volunteer work at the Cancer Institute . . . of which I’m a proud and grateful 15-year alum.
We used to cross paths once a week when I’d playfully gallop down a long flight of stairs and land right in front of the Institute’s front desk, where he’d be stationed.
As we walked to the Tai Chi class, he told me what he remembered most about me was how I was always so engaged with the people I encountered, and with my physical surroundings.
Wow. Humbling and reinforcing that someone noticed.
Be engaged.
Sounds like a corollary of a couple of the basic principles of good clowning: Be interested. Be present.
More tomorrow . . .
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