THOUGHT
I confess I love learning. I usually set aside 20 to 30 minutes in the morning before starting my day, and another 20 or 30 minimum in the evening. Many times I am researching facts for a book, a blog, or just for fun.
It is very exciting when you're looking for that thread that leads you back to a person you want to know more about. Sometimes it's just a line here or there in a book, or it's a full-on biography that you didn't know existed.
It was while I was researching information on the early women doctors in Colorado that I found a reference to a doctor in Boston Massachusetts in the 1830s. This intrigued me because most people credit Elizabeth Blackwell, who graduated medical school in 1849, as one of the early women doctors. As I dug deeper I found information online that other people had researched about Harriott Kezia Hunt, but I wanted to find more. Eventually, I found a copy of Dr. Hunt's autobiography.
No, Dr. Hunt was not a graduate of a medical school. She became a doctor by studying under another doctor. This was fairly common in the 1800s. I did find out that she had applied to Harvard Medical School and was accepted to audit the courses, but the student body objected.
These pieces of information make the story of the women doctors who followed that much richer.
I've much more to write about these early Colorado women doctors but I have put out a small book on the women doctors who practiced in Colorado Springs prior to 1900 and are buried in Evergreen Cemetery in that town. “Under The Stone: Early Women Doctors in Evergreen Cemetery” Amazon - eBook
This all started when I found an obituary of the first woman doctor in Colorado Springs. From that point on it became my mission to tell the story of these early medical pioneers.
At the same time, it is important to remember that sometimes you need to step away let things settle in your mind, and then return to your "learning". There's been many a day when I just simply get up from the chair go outside take in the beauty around me and breathe fresh air. It makes returning that much more invigorating.
TIP
Give yourself the gift of learning. Follow your passion. I love philosophy, history, nature, and photography. These are the things that make my life richer and allow me to share my love with the world. Perhaps it will inspire someone else to follow the threads they find fascinating.
QUOTES
Learning never exhausts the mind. Leonardo da Vinci
If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it? Albert Einstein
I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught. Winston Churchill
MUSIC
Carpenter - We've Only Just Begun
Kansas - Dust In The Wind
PHOTO © Doris McCraw
Until next time: Connect, Comment, Ask Questions. I’d enjoy hearing from you.