Just Moments: A Letter to Dr Peter Erickson

Abstract

Practicing mindfulness is usually characterized as being “in the moment” and is most often associated with an effort to manage individual illness, stress, or well-being. This editorial memorializes my dear friend Pete Erickson who was an exemplar to making every moment count. But more importantly, moments he made with others were “just moments” in service to his community, moments that made others experience their community and their health system as more just places. In defining “just moments,” I cite the paper “Collective Well-being to Improve Population Health Outcomes” where the authors argued that well-being is a function of a group and that domains such as “connectedness” and “contribution” may have as much to do with well-being as does our usual focus on individual self-care practices.