Hey doc, I want to talk about Encanto and I have to admit, I was not a fan initially. When it first came out, there was so much hype. It was just like, Oh my gosh, Lin Manuel Miranda, he's so great. And trust me, I love Lin Manuel Miranda. I'm going to see Hamilton in a couple of weeks. Love him. Love Moana. 

But I think because there was so much hype that when I actually watched it, I was like,  I mean, this is all right. The songs were just all right. Everybody's talking about this drip, drip, drip and Bruno and all this stuff, uh, whatever. And then my son didn't like it. He was, this was like what, two years ago when it came out?

He I guess was scared. He at that point, , his attention span wasn't great. So he didn't really watch movies like that. But now. All of a sudden we cannot get enough of Encanto. So we're like a couple years late from everybody else.  And we listen to the soundtrack almost every day, every weekend, we watch Encanto and it's great because now I'm also starting to teach him Spanish.

So he's getting to hear it and all of that. And so this weekend, we watched it with the sing along version. So I could see the subtitles. Because I like to sing along too. And now I'm an actual fan of the movie. It is a lot better than I thought. I think Dos Oruguitas is probably one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. 

But I was watching it  this weekend and I was like, Oh my gosh, those Madrigal sisters. are us, physician moms, like all three of them together, Louisa, Isabella, and Mirabel,  are like the epitome of physician mom  and everything that we have to go through. So I'm going to talk about, let's just call her Dr.

Madrigal, in terms of how each sister represents something that you may be feeling or have felt in the past about your life as a physician mom. So I want to start with Dr. Louisa, and I'm actually going to read the lyrics to her song, not all of them, because I just feel like It speaks to me.

When my friend from residency was telling me about this song, she was like, then Manuel Miranda is like healing a generation. It's like this song just spoke to her and she was,, probably one of my first mom friends and now I really get it.

So dr. Luisa  I'm the strong one. I'm not nervous. I move mountains I move churches and I glow cuz I know what my worth is. I don't ask how hard the work is I take what I'm handed. I break what's demanded But, under the surface, I'm pretty sure I'm worthless, if I can't be of service.  A flaw or a crack, the straw in the stack, that breaks the camel's back.

But what breaks the camel's back?  It's pressure.  Like a drip, drip, drip, that'll never stop.  Pressure, that'll tip, tip, tip, till you just go pop.  Who am I, if I can't carry it all?  If I falter,  but wait,  if I could shake the crushing weight of expectations, would that free some room up for joy, or relaxation,  or simple pleasure?

Now, Doc,  if Dr. Louisa is not telling you  everything that I have been telling you since you started listening to this podcast, I don't know. I don't know what else, what else you can say. And at the end of the movie, what happens? She regains her strength. She tries to start doing some work, but she gets knocked into a hammock by a donkey and handed a drink.

You, you don't need to carry all that load,  release some of that pressure. Just relax. You have worth  even if you can't carry it all. Take it from Dr. Louisa. Right, so let's go on to Dr. Isabella.  The perfect, beautiful Isabella. Did somebody say flowers?  And trust me, during that last, when I was reading those words just now, it took everything in me to not break out in song.

So, you're welcome. How many times have you thought,  I need to  Be perfect. I need to maintain this perfect persona that everybody assumes.  that I have.  The perfect doctor, amazing job. She went through all of this schooling, has this high paying job and she's a rich doctor and look at her family. She's perfect with a perfect husband and a perfect kids and she's a super mom. 

How often do you feel the pressure of  keeping all of that up?  Like, even if you don't feel like that's your life,  The knowledge that your family and your friends believe that that's what your life is, or that's what your life should be. But just like Isabella, nothing is perfect and it takes a lot to keep up that facade, right? 

But  with Mirabel's help, she realizes that there is beauty in the imperfections and there is strength that comes from. Just owning who you really are and not worrying about appearing to be perfect, just being unapologetically you. And that can be beautiful too. That can be your own version of perfect life, perfect doctoring, perfect momming. 

You don't have to worry about appearing perfect for anybody else. And then that brings me to Dr. Mirabel. My heart.  The one who is so often overlooked.  But, when you really check, she is taking care of everyone. She is lifting everyone up. She is everybody's cheerleader.  Doing everything that she needs to do for her family, because she wants to make her family proud.

But nobody notices her, because their vision of special doesn't look like her. It looks like something else.  So she is silently working, silently doing all these things for her family, not getting any recognition, any acknowledgement, any praise.  Then they finally wake up, after everything comes crumbling down.

Literally.   And she.  Basically saves them, fixes everything, and as they are working together to rebuild their life and their home, they are finally seeing how amazing she is  and she can finally be seen.  All she ever wanted was to be seen.  So I want to say to you, Dr. Mirabel, or Dr. whatever your name is, that I see you. 

I see all of the hard work that you put in to being the best physician that you can be,  to being the best mother for your children, the work that you put in to being the best wife,  the best daughter, whatever else, all of the people that you are taking care of that may not say thank you, that may not acknowledge you. 

I see you  and I appreciate you and I want you to know that you deserve the rest, like Dr. Louisa.  You deserve the imperfection and being unapologetically you, like Dr. Isabella. And you deserve to be seen like Dr. Mirabel. Okay.  I hope you enjoy Encanto as much as I do and you enjoyed this episode. Be sure to share it with another doc who You think would benefit from  being seen because you know, that's the whole point of stethoscopes and strollers  to help you feel  a little more seen and a lot less alone.

I'll see you on the next episode.