I love spy movies and the Jason Bourne movies are some of my favorites. Jason Bourne, played by Matt Damon, is a trained CIA assassin, and amidst the chaos of the US Government trying to kill him, he is seeking personal, political, and global truth. I like listening to this Vivaldi piece by The Piano Guys from the Bourne movies. It starts out with a violin playing sad music and then the pace of the music increases and so does the quest for truth amid deception and misinformation.

Presently, the political truth is pretty hard to figure out, but you most likely can come to some conclusion on your own for personal truth. It may not be the same every day; it's dynamic and your conclusions may change based on whatever source of facts that are available at the time. And so, it is with our pandemic. I think a companion of personal truth is your personal purpose. Purpose gives a reason for being. So, my own truth currently is having purpose. And my purpose is to do whatever I can to make my family, my community, and my country a better, safer, happier place. If we serve others, we serve ourselves.

Here is a pandemic truth: the vaccines work. They decrease your risk for hospitalization, respiratory failure and death by >99%.

Want to learn more about our struggles with the current Delta variant surge? Join me, along with Dr. Maura Rossman, the Howard County Health Officer, this Tuesday at 7:00pm for a live Community Conversation sponsored by the Howard County Health Department and the Columbia Association. Register to join the live Q&A by clicking here. This is a free event, and everyone is welcome to attend!

On a musical note:

Truth Be Told by Matthew West and Carly Pearce:

As a reminder, I'm no longer sending out daily updates and instead, I'm updating you periodically. I continue to enjoy writing these updates. Initially, these were only sent to my patients, however, I've been humbled to learn that, through social media, these writings have been forwarded and re-forwarded to many. This has brought me great joy to know that this simple act of sharing facts, thoughts, opinions, and hopes have touched you in some way. Hopefully I've been able to reassure you, maybe make you smile and laugh, soothe your worries, and comfort you. And maybe, just maybe, I've helped you to be in the moment!

Reach out. Stay connected. Stay home. Save lives. The power of one. Be well.

Feel free to forward this on: spread the word, not the virus.

HAO

24/7

Harry Oken, M.D.

Adjunct Professor of Medicine

University of Maryland, School of Medicine

Office 410-910-7500

Fax   410-910-2310 

Cell   443-324-0823