I am an artist, and my work of art is my life. For most of this life, I searched for meaning. I searched in books, in my travels, in theology, and in the mountains. I traveled the world chasing something I could not name — until one day, it found me.
I will never forget one summer morning in Nepal, under the scorching sun. I was walking toward the Boudhanath temple, and as I entered one of the holiest Buddhist sites in the world, the great white dome stood in front of me, its golden spire gleaming against the sky while prayer flags danced in the wind. The pigeons were circling the dome and then returning to the warm stone ground in a rhythmic state of motion. The air carried the scent of burning incense and butter lamps. Around me, the low hum of Om mani padme hum echoed — a sound so ancient, so steady, that time itself seemed to dissolve. And then I saw him — a monk, motionless, eyes closed, lost in his chant. He wasn’t just praying; he was somewhere else. He was in Flow.
What is this state — this Flow, this Fire, this Force — that radiates from us when we are in it? It is when time disappears, when effort feels effortless, when we are so immersed in creation that we become part of something greater than ourselves. It is the writer lost in his words, the doctor healing with her hands, the teacher lost in a lesson among her pupils, and the entrepreneur chasing an idea that could change lives. Flow is not about the end result; it is about being fully present in the act of creation.
I have been a practicing physician for 22 years. I have fought many battles — some I won, some I lost — but every time I walk into a hospital or my clinic, I enter that state of Flow. I am in that same state as the monk in Nepal, using my knowledge, my experience — but, even more importantly, my empathy and compassion — to bring healing.
I remember one cold winter night and a call at 10:30 p.m. A young woman, barely in her 20s, had lost her vision. The loss started slowly but had progressed rapidly. She had been transferred from another hospital and needed a cutting-edge treatment called PLEX, which was only available in our hospital because, two years earlier, my partners and I had pushed relentlessly to bring it to Idaho. We spent days, weeks, months training doctors, nurses, technicians, and blood banks, preparing for a night just like this. And in that moment, as she was wheeled into the ICU, we all stepped into Flow. Every decision, every action, every precise movement had to be perfect. We exchanged every drop of her plasma, removing the attacking antibodies and replacing them with a clean plasma and albumin. And then, one morning, on my last day on call, I walked into her ICU room. She turned toward me, her face searching for something — until our eyes met.
“Doc, I can see again.” Her voice trembled. She reached for my hand, gripping it tightly, as her tears welled up. I felt my own begin. At that moment, nothing else in the world existed, just this sacred space where science, skill, and something far greater than ourselves had converged. We had created something that morning. Not just healing. Not just recovery. But hope. This was Flow. This was creation in its purest form.
Miracles happen around us every day because people step into that state of Flow. They can be teachers, nurses, doctors, firefighters, or parents hustling to raise their families. We are not just living; we are all composing, painting, shaping, healing, and sculpting this world around us with every action we take. And when we slow down and pay attention, we can intentionally create these moments that bring positive change, progress, and beauty into existence. I once believed that the goal of life was to find meaning. Now I know — the real goal is to create it. Because the act of creation isn’t separate from us. It is us. We were born to create, to shape, to heal, to build, to love. We are all artists in our own ways. That’s why we’re here.
Dr. Fahim Rahim WG24 practiced medicine for 20 years before graduating from Wharton’s Executive MBA program. He is the founder and CEO of Nephrolytics, an AI-powered platform transforming kidney disease care, as well as the co-founder and CEO of Idaho Kidney Institute and the founder of HealthSpan 360, a personalized precision medicine company focused on longevity and chronic disease prevention. To read more of Fahim’s writing, subscribe to his Substack.
