From Skilled Surgeon to Homeless Musician

I found that Manzanar's decision to simply walk out of his profession as a surgeon was quite intriguing. The author goes into such great detail how his work as a surgeon could have been that of an artist, whether it was pottery, painting, or anything else artistically related. However, it is important to see how the art of surgery could be an art in itself. Being able to perform careful incisions is similar in the sense to it takes the same perfection, practice, and skill like playing an instrument or creating a masterpiece from clay. I think Manzanar become too overwhelmed with his linear progression in life, where he would perform his music (his surgery) but it only leads to affluence in terms of material items. On page 56, the author writes "there are maps and there are maps and there are maps." Manzanar one day had that epiphany that the path he was following on his map did not satisfy his life, leading him to abandon it and end up being a homeless man. However it is in this status he is able to transcend the mindset of an "everyday working man," being detached and physically distant. This allows him to be able to have a much more clear sense of matters at hand, with accurate visions of what happens and what is to come, as he conducts his highway symphonies.