The World of Gloria Vanderbilt by Wendy Goodman

An unlikely source of inspiration

I recently got stuck in my hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma during the big holiday blizzard in New York.  While confined in my family’s home  and far away from my busy medical practice, I spent a lot of time reading medical material, thinking, working on how to most effectively evolve this bog, and a lot of time at the local Border’s bookstore. Although most of my reading is technical and my medical life, by nature, is very serious stuff, my frivolous passion and hobby is fashion and design. My surgeon husband tells me that all surgeons are “visual” by nature and passions such as this are to be expected. During this period of rest, I also decided that emotional health and well being are important for women of all ages and we do not discuss this enough in the office. I vowed in the New Year to spend more time with my patients examining the emotional issues of the medical problems which they may be experiencing, as well as the emotional health in my patients who are well. All at the same time, I planned a book review section for the Balanced Women’s Health Bog. It is unlikely that I would choose a coffee table, picture book about an heiress to be the first book to place on this blog, devoted to women’s health. For, I am not an heiress, not wealthy, and not a member of the design world. The book not only did resonate with my desire to be visually stimulated by beautiful photography, but also with my ability to be inspired by stories of emotional fortitude in life and self reinvention. Ms. Vanderbilt was dealt an unusually tough set of emotional cards ranging from no parental guidance during her youth, to the suicide of her child in her adulthood. But she survived this and persevered to become a creative force in fashion, as well as an accomplished business woman and writer. She indeed, at the age of 85, has penned an erotic novel. “One wishes that there had been a bouquet of happy memories from which to choose. But the thing that is evident in Gloria Vanderbilt’s life is that her strength and resolve and invincible warrior spirit didn’t come from the wastelands of imagining “what if”. Her invincible journey has been built on dealing with “what is” and the hard work and courage it takes to transform the uncontrollable in life into something positive and enriching.”(page 200).

This is the beauty of life, experience and exploration; you never know where inspiration comes from, even from the seemingly most unconventional places.”

Posted: December 31st, 2010 | Author: drpoynor | Filed under: general health, great health at every age, menopause, Uncategorized | Tags: reviews | No Comments »