Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Discover your true north: Navigating life’s confusions and embracing your path to success

Tyler Jorgensen, MD
Physician
June 7, 2023
Share
Tweet
Share

At age 18, my buddy David and I scaled the outside stucco of a hotel in Cancun, Mexico, and soon found ourselves ten stories up, lying on our backs on the hotel roof, looking at the night sky. It was a terribly stupid idea—one of many we had back in those days. But once we were up there, David taught me the major stars and constellations of the summer sky: Cassiopeia, Draco, the Little Dipper, and of course, Polaris, the North Star.

Back in Houston after our trip, I was determined to remember what David had taught me. Every night after dark, I would crawl out my window (sorry, Mom and Dad!) onto the roof of our house and look up. Despite the weird purple hue from the Houston skyline and the overwhelming light pollution, I found I could still make out most of the major stars of the summer constellations. I studied my hometown stars like a textbook, and I stared at them long enough that the pattern became forever etched in my mind.

When I went off to college in rural Virginia a few months later, I found the night sky looked quite a bit different—much less light pollution, way more stars. In fact, the brightness of all these stars now visible made it harder for me to pick out the constellations. I also noticed the constellations were a bit out of position relative to the horizon at this higher latitude. But as I took time to find the North Star and reorient myself, I was soon able to match this new night sky to the one I had looked at on my roof back home so many times. Far away from home, I found great comfort in being able to look up at the night sky and see some old familiar “friends.”

For two and a half decades now, I’ve been a stargazer. When I find myself in new places, I look up. I look for the North Star. Oddly, looking up always grounds me. I remember a night backpacking in the Redwoods when a chance glimpse of part of Corona Borealis through an otherwise cloudy sky revealed to me and my same buddy, David, just which way we had been traveling.

Looking at the stars in Argentina a few years ago really threw me. There were a few familiar celestial faces to the north, but up above me and down to the south were constellations I had never seen before (nor since!). Another time outside Rome, feeling a little homesick, I remember the great reassurance I felt looking up and seeing the same old Sagittarius I knew from American skies.

William Cullen Bryant wrote about it this way in 1832 in his “Hymn to the North Star”:

“On thy unaltering blaze,
The half-wrecked mariner, his compass lost,
Fixes his steady gaze,
And steers, undoubting, to the friendly coast;”

The metaphors from all this star talk come easily. When we feel lost in life, when we feel far from home, when we seem to have lost some of our supports or to have wandered off course, it’s important to reorient ourselves to our North Star. What is it in life that has pointed you in the right direction? Is it friends? Maybe family? Is it your home? Maybe it’s a faith tradition? Maybe it’s your personal core values or your sense of calling or mission?

The same can be true in medicine. Do you remember your North Star in medicine? What inspired you to pursue this path back in the day? What did you write about in your medical school application? Sometimes it’s hard to even think back that far! In what ways can you get back to that old North Star?

I have felt lost in life and in medicine many times. I imagine we all have. Look up from where you are, reorient yourself to your North Star, and get grounded again. Then move forward in the direction that calls for you.

Tyler Jorgensen is an emergency medicine and palliative care physician.

Prev

A revolution in patient empowerment: Working together to save our medical system [PODCAST]

June 6, 2023 Kevin 0
…
Next

Unmasking the truth: the shocking reality of the opioid epidemic and who's really to blame

June 7, 2023 Kevin 4
…

Tagged as: Practice Management

Post navigation

< Previous Post
A revolution in patient empowerment: Working together to save our medical system [PODCAST]
Next Post >
Unmasking the truth: the shocking reality of the opioid epidemic and who's really to blame

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Tyler Jorgensen, MD

  • Embracing compassion: a physician’s journey in overcoming prejudice

    Tyler Jorgensen, MD
  • Paddle your way to wellness: Navigating the whitewater of medicine and finding balance on the water

    Tyler Jorgensen, MD

Related Posts

  • Ethical humanism: life after #medbikini and an approach to reimagining professionalism

    Jay Wong
  • The life cycle of medication consumption

    Fery Pashang, PharmD
  • My first end-of-life conversation

    Shereen Jeyakumar
  • Are the life sciences the best premedical majors?

    Moses Anthony
  • My grandfather’s death: What I’ve learned about life

    Munera Ahmed
  • A reflection on a man’s life before dissection

    Mami K. Sow

More in Physician

  • A step‑by‑step guide to crafting meaningful research questions

    Julian Gendreau, MD
  • How restrictive opioid policies worsen the crisis

    Kayvan Haddadan, MD
  • The dying man who gave me flowers changed how I see care

    Augusta Uwah, MD
  • How market forces fracture millennial physicians’ careers

    Shannon Meron, MD
  • Unity in primary care: Why I believe physicians and NPs/PAs must work together toward the same goal

    Jerina Gani, MD, MPH
  • Guilty until proven innocent? My experience with a state medical board.

    Jeffrey Hatef, Jr., MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why palliative care is more than just end-of-life support

      Dr. Vishal Parackal | Conditions
    • When life makes you depend on Depends

      Francisco M. Torres, MD | Physician
    • Guilty until proven innocent? My experience with a state medical board.

      Jeffrey Hatef, Jr., MD | Physician
    • Why medical notes have become billing scripts instead of patient stories

      Sriman Swarup, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How denial of hypertension endangers lives and what doctors can do

      Dr. Aminat O. Akintola | Conditions
    • A powerful story of addiction, strength, and redemption

      Ryan McCarthy, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why transgender health care needs urgent reform and inclusive practices

      Angela Rodriguez, MD | Conditions
    • COVID-19 was real: a doctor’s frontline account

      Randall S. Fong, MD | Conditions
    • Why primary care doctors are drowning in debt despite saving lives

      John Wei, MD | Physician
    • New student loan caps could shut low-income students out of medicine

      Tom Phan, MD | Physician
    • Confessions of a lipidologist in recovery: the infection we’ve ignored for 40 years

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • mRNA post vaccination syndrome: Is it real?

      Harry Oken, MD | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • A step‑by‑step guide to crafting meaningful research questions

      Julian Gendreau, MD | Physician
    • When recurrent UTIs might actually be bladder cancer

      Fara Bellows, MD | Conditions
    • How restrictive opioid policies worsen the crisis

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • Why doctors should rethink investing compared to the average U.S. investor [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How chronic stress harms the heart in minority communities

      Monzur Morshed, MD and Kaysan Morshed | Conditions
    • Could antibiotics beat heart disease where statins failed?

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why palliative care is more than just end-of-life support

      Dr. Vishal Parackal | Conditions
    • When life makes you depend on Depends

      Francisco M. Torres, MD | Physician
    • Guilty until proven innocent? My experience with a state medical board.

      Jeffrey Hatef, Jr., MD | Physician
    • Why medical notes have become billing scripts instead of patient stories

      Sriman Swarup, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How denial of hypertension endangers lives and what doctors can do

      Dr. Aminat O. Akintola | Conditions
    • A powerful story of addiction, strength, and redemption

      Ryan McCarthy, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why transgender health care needs urgent reform and inclusive practices

      Angela Rodriguez, MD | Conditions
    • COVID-19 was real: a doctor’s frontline account

      Randall S. Fong, MD | Conditions
    • Why primary care doctors are drowning in debt despite saving lives

      John Wei, MD | Physician
    • New student loan caps could shut low-income students out of medicine

      Tom Phan, MD | Physician
    • Confessions of a lipidologist in recovery: the infection we’ve ignored for 40 years

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • mRNA post vaccination syndrome: Is it real?

      Harry Oken, MD | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • A step‑by‑step guide to crafting meaningful research questions

      Julian Gendreau, MD | Physician
    • When recurrent UTIs might actually be bladder cancer

      Fara Bellows, MD | Conditions
    • How restrictive opioid policies worsen the crisis

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • Why doctors should rethink investing compared to the average U.S. investor [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How chronic stress harms the heart in minority communities

      Monzur Morshed, MD and Kaysan Morshed | Conditions
    • Could antibiotics beat heart disease where statins failed?

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...