The .Plan

Re-orienting to the outpatient setting has been challenging. Most notably, my office does not have a window. I plan to remedy this with a bit of artwork:

However, as much as I hope it will work, it may not. Recently, Peter Kahn and colleagues studied the restorative effects of a real window vs. a giant plasma screen linked to a live, high-definition camera recording of the exact same view visible through the window (vs. no window at all). They write,

This study established three key findings. First, in terms of heart rate recovery from low level stress, working in the office environment with a glass window that looked out on a nature scene was more restorative than working in the same office with the outside view (the blank wall condition). Second, in terms of this same physiological measure, the plasma window was no different from the blank wall. Third, when participants looked longer out the glass window, they had greater physiological recovery; but that was not the case with the plasma window, where increased looking time yielded no greater physiological recovery.
–Peter Kahn et al., “A plasma display window? The shifting baseline problem in a technologically mediated world”. Journal of Environmental Psychology, June 2008

Humbly I ask thee: teach me Your will
While You are working, help me be still
Satan is busy — God is real
Order my steps in Your word
Please, order my steps in Your word
–as sung by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir