Time Capsule #94
On legacy, retirement, and knee osteoarthritis.
Welcome to the Time Capsule — a weekly newsletter that serves as both my public journal and personal scrapbook. I write about the things on my mind and close to my heart in hopes that those who read it find value and enjoyment in it, and perhaps some solace too.
💭 Quote(s) of the Week
We look back upon our life only as a thing of broken pieces, because our misses and failures are always the first to strike us, and outweigh in our imagination what we have done, and attained.
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
✏️ What do you want your legacy to be?
I had this prompt in my notion list of podcast questions (I wanted to start one once upon a time). Since I didn’t know what to put in this week’s newsletter, I will explore this question.
Feel free to comment with your thoughts or your own answer!
Legacy — by definition, it is the impact that you will leave when you die. A part of me thinks it egotistical to try and leave a legacy. Others have accomplished more than I could in a thousand lifetimes; to think that I could leave any meaningful legacy is unlikely in relation to human history.
I think a better way of looking at it is: how do you want to be remembered? You might not be able to change the world, but you can influence your small circle of relations — friends, family, community — and leave a lasting impression that can perhaps be considered a legacy through them. My favourite chapter of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations is the first one, called Debts and Lessons. In it, he goes through the various people in his life and discusses the qualities and lessons he learned from them. I think it is a good example of how we can leave a legacy through our character and actions. The way one approaches education, one’s dedication to learning, or one’s self-control of their emotions are all examples of things people can observe in us, admire, and maybe influence the way they live their life or parent their own children.
I think it is possible to leave a legacy that is not self-indulgent or egotistical. Being deliberate in one’s thoughts and actions, striving to be the best version of oneself, and living a private and public life in congruence with one another is a good place to start.
📸 Photo(s) of the Week
Spiritual surgery.
📖 Book of the Week — The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Heard its pretty good.
💡 Food for Thought
It takes bravery to refuse the norms of the world and the advice of those around you.
🔭 Sunday Best
Retirement is The Time to Start Living — by Green Renaissance
In our modern, long-hours culture, we place a high value on career and success. So it’s not surprising that retirement is seen as an end, rather than the start of something new. But it’s a mistake to think that you have to have a job to be productive or fulfilled. Many people achieve much more when they retire than they ever did at work, finally having the time to pick up on their interests, and be true to their passions. Retirement is a state of mind rather than something that starts at a certain age. And life doesn’t need to close or end. In fact, it can open up in surprising and healing ways. And it can also be a journey of discovery and adventure. Go into it with curiosity about yourself and embrace the possibilities that open up to you. Filmed in Suurbraak, South Africa.
Patient Journey in Knee OA: What Defines Success? — an OrthoEvidence Inc. conversation with Dr. Aaron Johnson of the University of Maryland.
Sample Size Estimation and Power Analysis for Clinical Research Studies — by Suresh and Chandrashekara in the Journal of Human Reproductive Science (2012)
Determining the optimal sample size for a study assures adequate power to detect statistical significance. Hence, it is a critical step in the design of a planned research protocol. Using too many participants in a study is expensive and exposes more subjects to the procedure. Similarly, if a study is underpowered, it will be statistically inconclusive and may make the whole protocol a failure. This paper covers the essentials of calculating power and sample size for a variety of applied study designs. Sample size computation for single group mean, survey type of studies, 2 group studies based on means and proportions or rates, correlation studies and case-control for assessing the categorical outcome are presented in detail.
Thanks,
AT