Showing our creative side
By: Lakshmi N Kurnutala M.D., M.Sc.
In this newer section of the newsletter, we are "showing our creative side" as part of our wellness program. We encourage anesthesia faculty, CRNAs, residents, anesthesia technicians, and administrative staff to submit their artwork (paintings with descriptions), music interests (with narrative and photos), photography (with comments), poetry, or small narratives (less than one page).
We know that we have an excellent team to provide the best possible anesthesia care for patients in the state of Mississippi through UMMC. Anesthesia is our profession, but we want to share your passion for bringing a little joy and improving our wellness.
We are a great team as professionals, but our passion (art, music, dance, poetry, photography, etc.) sometimes needs to be more restrained/stopped because of our busy schedules. We want to show the world what we love other than providing the best patient care. As human beings, we don't need to give up one for another; balancing our professional and personal life is very important to improve our wellness.
Please continue to send your submissions to Dr. Sara Robertson or me. We look forward to getting many submissions from each of you!
Josuf Turnipseed, B.S., 2nd Year Medical Student
Art has always been a great influence in my life and a core part of who I am today. I still remember one of my first pieces—it was back in elementary school when my class entered a Google-sponsored competition. We got to design one of the themed “Google” logos, and I went all-in on a space theme. I turned the “G” into an alien, the “o”s into a galaxy and a planet, the “g” morphed into a comet, the “l” became a rocket, and the “e” was a meteor. The whole design was set against a starry night, with a giant telescope spanning the length of the canvas, looking up at the scene. I thought it was a pretty cool idea—and apparently, so did my school. My design placed in the top 10% of finalists for consideration. I didn’t win—no surprise there—but honestly, I didn’t even care. What really stuck with me was how much joy and excitement I felt while bringing that idea to life. Winning wouldn’t have hurt either, but I realized then that what I was most intrigued by was the process of creating something from scratch and watching that vision take form. It’s hard to explain, but there’s something deeply fulfilling about turning an idea into something real and meaningful. That feeling has stayed with me. Since then, art has become one of my creative outlets—a way to disconnect from responsibilities and stress and bring my imagination to life.
I haven’t had as much time for it lately as I’d like, but I’ve still found little ways to keep it in my life. The white coat painting was actually an end-of-the-year assignment from my first year of med school, and a perfect excuse to spend a night just painting. The Harry Potter paintings were a part of a fun date night my girlfriend and I did together this past year, and the ceramic “lantern” was something I made as a gift to my mom for Mother’s Day.
