The Beauty in Breaking

An ER doctor discusses how learning how to heal oneself came from living a life of service to others.

In a field dominated by men and white physicians, Michele Harper is a female African American ER physician. Having grown up in a violent household in Washington, DC, she attended Harvard, where she eventually found her spouse. They remained together during medical school until he informed her that he couldn't move with her, two months before she was supposed to start working at a hospital in central Philadelphia. With her marriage over, Harper started a new life as a single woman in a new city and at a new profession.

Over the years, Harper developed into a skilled emergency room doctor who brought compassion and understanding to every patient interaction. It was at this time that Harper realized everyone is flawed on some level—emotionally, mentally, and physically. Important steps in the healing process include identifying those breaks, attempting to patch them, and deciding what to do next.

Harper's moving genuine account of her path toward self-healing may be found in The Beauty in Breaking. Harper writes on the lessons she learned about healing and recuperation from each of her patients. How to overcome fear even in the face of uncertainty. How to be honest when it's easier to ignore something? How to realize that justice and compassion are two different things. Harper gains insight into the significance of allowing ourselves to make peace with the past while we draw support from the present as she sheds light on the systemic disenfranchisement of the patients she treats as they fight to keep their health and dignity. She shares the priceless, essential lessons she has learned as a daughter, a woman, and a doctor in this uplifting, poignant, and lovely book.