Meet The Person Behind The Doctor
This is me. How about you? What makes your heart sing?
Welcome to The Feel Good Life! A newsletter about health, prevention, empathy, and hope. Join me, Dr. Mariana, as we explore all sides of good health and life. New here? My stress-management course is a good place to start.
Hello dear Feel Gooders!
This is a quick, friendly and easy-to-read newsletter just to come on a different note and say Hello!
In the last few weeks I’ve been delivering some resourceful posts to serve as a guide in this health learning journey, showing you how mind and body connect, and how you can get to know your own. I’ve loved writing each and every single post so far. In case you missed them, here they are:
Today, I want to come say hello. As a clinician, it’s meaningful to get to know my patients, but also, to let my patients know me. Since we’re not in a consultation room but in this beautiful readers room, I’d love to know about you - and for you to know about me. No big, comprehensive health data today, just a fun, light and quirky convo. :)
Apart from being a doctor, there are so many other things I enjoy.
Writing is of course one of them.
I think I’ve been writing since the minute I learned how to write. I remember writing poems as a kid, and most of all, journals. I’ve been the introvert kind of kid and teen who would write every single feeling on a cute, little notebook in the privacy of her inner world, with loud background music and tons of imaginary scenarios playing in her head. I could say writing has been my constant companion, friend, saviour and beyond.
In fact, I wrote a book! It is - and will always be - my baby. Independently published in 2018, I’ll be forever proud of this milestone.
Travel has also been one of the greatest loves of my life.
I don’t mean traveling for leisure but more about doing deep explorations of the world, its cultures, its people, its unique ways and traditions, whether from close or afar. For a long time I used to be a travel writer. I had my own blog just when the whole travel blogging boom happened between 2010-2015.
Those were surreal and incredible times. I got to to attend travel blogging conferences, cover sponsored trips to unbelievable places, meet exciting travel writers, make really good friends that I keep still today, write for inflight magazines, be one of the founding members of the first travel blogging association in Spain, take part in tourism boards marketing campaigns - hi Costa Brava! I even got nominated once for a best travel writing award!
Oh those travel writing days have been among the best experiences of my life - and still these days, travel writing remains so close to my heart. What a decade.
I also love languages.
I grew up in a Spanish speaking country with a bilingual education, so English has always been a huge part of my brain. In fact, I tend to think in English more than I do in Spanish. That has always been the case. No idea why but it’s been fun (and useful!).
While in high school, we had to take 3 years of French. I was never 100% fluent but I can understand enough and get understood if I need to speak it. Also, my parents lived in France back in the 70’s for a couple of years, so I always grew up listening their stories from their French era of life. I was always fascinated by it.
Later on, after my uni years, Italian got me curious so off I went. I enrolled in a course at the Dante Alighieri Academy in my city, and 18 months later I was officially an Italian Language grad.
I’ve always made a point to read or listen stuff in the languages I learn so I can keep them active and somehow fresh in my brain. It is proven that language learning is a great memory enhancer, helping neuronal development and plasticity as we age.
Here’s another lovely language story - probably one of my favourites.
In my late 20’s I decided to move to Spain. There I was, suddenly living in my forever dream: Barcelona. Here they speak a language called Catalan. It didn’t take me long before I enrolled in Catalan classes. Three courses gave me the basics, and daily life in the city gave me everything else.
Catalan was a beautiful surprise to learn - especially because my grandma was born in Barcelona back in 1914. At age 8 her family moved to Costa Rica and settled down there. My grandma would speak Catalan with her parents and siblings at home all the time. However, when her parents passed away, Catalan remained a memory, as my grandma didn’t pass the language along to her offspring.
By the time I moved to Barcelona and learned the language, my grandma was 90 years old. Meaning, she hadn’t spoken or heard her mother tongue for over 35 years! I felt it in my heart like a whale-sized hunch to bring the language back to her, even if for a little remembrance only.
After a year, I managed to learn enough Catalan basics to communicate with her. One afternoon, while visiting and having a cuppa tea, I started talking to her in her language, and to all of her kids’ (my dad and uncles) surprise, she replied back in a language they had never heard coming out of her lips. My grandma always thought she wouldn’t remember much, but the minute I started speaking, she answered so naturally. Surprise, joyful laughs and tears flowed. It was a monumental and meaningful moment for us all. I feel proud that I could give that to her.
At 36 years old, I found myself embracing the next language journey, and it was nothing I had ever imagined. Hindi came like a life-changing splash and in the most unexpected ways. After 5 years, I’m still learning, not as fluent as I would love to (yet), but my goodness, when learning a language you certainly learn an entire culture. Not to mention the lifetime friends, experiences and lessons it has given me. Embracing Hindi has been one of the most transformative experiences of my life.
Besides languages, I love to dance.
I had never danced in my life until I was 35 years old. A dancing bug got inside of me real strong and I fully listened. Since then, I have already been through Pole Dance, Bhangra (Punjabi traditional dance), Bollywood, Bolly Folk, and as of the last 2 years, Ballet. If someone would’ve told me that by age 40 I’d be starting ballet, I wouldn’t have believed it, but here I am! And it feels the greatest thing ever.
This all makes me only more curious to see what the next years will bring, eager to discover what new things I’ll get to learn and enjoy.
Life is interesting…
I’ve always been seen by others as someone quiet, calm, labile and weak even (especially while growing up). The thing is that I have always felt like someone entirely different on the inside: sparkly, crazy, dreamy, loud and full of energy. Since most people around me never got to see much of that side of me, I grew up feeling like two different people, sadly affecting for a long time the way I’d show up in the world.
Despite all (external) odds, I’ve done quite some exciting and surprising things throughout my life, which felt like the most me every time. Thankfully, I’ve been learning how to free myself from those old patterns so I can be fully me. We live and learn!
What an interesting and endless journey, that of self-discovery.
How about you?
What are things that you love about yourself? What things makes your soul spark? What are things that you’ve accomplished and feel proud of?
I’d love to learn about you. Share in the comments and let’s get an inspiring conversation going! :)
And last but not least, thank you for being here at The Feel Good Life! Your presence means everything, it gives purpose to my writing. I hope you enjoyed this personal share so you can get to know the human behind the Doctor - and may we get to continue sharing this space for long time to come. :)
Love,
Dr. Mariana
You look great in india dress. Bhangra beats surely makes you want to dance. Looking forward for more such anecdotes😁
Beautiful stories, Mariana! You have such an eclectic set of passions. Life is interesting... in how we keep blossoming and blossoming as the years go by, and age brings us more confidence to let ourselves be seen by the world exactly as we are. :)