A note about the work "Nocturnist" from Celeste Lipkes: “Ultimately, there are always several reasons for everything we do,” writes Judith Hermann “—those we know of, and those we suspect. And those we know nothing of.” It is these latter two categories that haunt my work as a writer, and have increasingly drawn me to the essay form. I began writing “Nocturnist” during the research block of my psychiatry residency; I finally had space and time to wonder why I had become obsessed with our neighborhood raccoon. Underneath this fixation was a deep loneliness, doubt about my career choices, fear of illness, and anger at the physical and emotional demands of contemporary medicine. For an essay with a lot of darkness, writing it was an incredibly instructive and joyful process—and a great excuse to read many books about one of our scrappiest urban neighbors.