’Tis the Season of Giving
By: Dr Jeff Livingston
Tags: Writing, Gratitude, Gifts, Holidays, Short Form

’Tis the Season of Giving

One of the greatest joys in writing is discovering our work impacts someone else’s life. As health writers, we strive to help people live longer, happier, and healthier lives.

The mission of Being Well is to provide evidence-based, reliable, and actionable scientific information packaged in a way to bring joy to our readers.

Let’s face it. 2020 has been a hard year. We are all worried about the mental health of our healthcare workers around the world. Physician burnout, depression, and suicide are on the rise.

But 2020 is almost over. The vaccine brings hope to the horizon. We finally have a reason for optimism.

Let’s exchange Holiday presents. The best gift we can give is a story.

Think about your favorite Being Well stories from this year. Which ones gave you pause, made you smile, triggered tears, or forced you to see the world differently? Did anyone help you improve as a writer or put you one step closer to becoming a better version of yourself?

Were you moved by Dr. Hesham A. Hassaballa, an ICU physician running a Covid-19 unit, as he offered real-time updates from his personal experience?

Dr. Patricia Farrell shared insightfully deep and sometimes dark, thought-provoking stories that forced us to face uncomfortable topics. James C. Coyne kept us on our ethical toes as he dissected new medical research.

Being Well founder Robert Turner is never afraid to tackle a difficult topic or take a contrarian view.

Lisa Bradburn, Davina Tiwari, Cody Dumbarton, and Anthony Ashmore helped us maintain our mental health through mindfulness tips and self-care.

When I needed a laugh, I turned to the hilarious Michael Burg, MD, and Loren A Olson MD always moves me with his thoughtful, kind, and compassionate words of wisdom.

Grant H Brenner, Bo Stapler,, Ethan Milne, Gil Bashe, E. Rosalie, Sohail, Nancy R. Gough, Walter Harrington, Tara Fernandez, Adam Tabriz, and many others pushed all of us to understand the latest scientific research.

Michael Hunter MD, Tim Rees, Jennifer Mittler-Lee, and James Goydos, MD continue to provide practical and useful everyday tips to improve our lives.

Eden Kunter, Thewriteyard, and Simona Cazanescu shared valuable pandemic perspectives from around the world.

Here is your call to action

Zachary Walston and I have been testing out Medium shortform posts. Being Well is calling for submissions for shortform posts where each of you chooses a Being Well story that impacted your life or writing.

Please provide a summary in under 150 words of why you selected the story and how it impacted you. Tag the author and at the bottom of your shortform, provide a link to the writer’s story. These links do not count against the 150 word count.

This small act of kindness is a way we can show each other our appreciation.

Here is an example

Here is a screenshot of a shortform story Being Well published highlighting Dr. Hesham A. Hassaballa's leadership documenting his Covid vaccination on video to help create vaccine trust and confidence.

If you are not familiar with the shortform style, do not stress. Here is a step by step guide explaining what you need to know.

Let the gift-giving begin

Search through the Being Well archives and find a story or writer that you loved. I am “off-limits” as our senior editor, but everyone else is fair game.

Spread some holiday cheer by sharing how a Being Well writer or story impacted your life.