Uncertainty In Medicine

Season

1

Episode

10

|

Jun 5, 2025

Trusting the Process with Leila Simon Hayes

Today, we step inside the studio of visual artist Leila Simon Hayes, whose bold, shape-driven designs are born from a process rooted in imperfection, intuition, and trust. Through her story, we explore how Leila’s creative practice helped her navigate decades of chronic pain and medical dismissal, eventually leading her to healing not through certainty, but through listening—both to her art and her body. Her journey invites us to reconsider our own relationship with uncertainty, and to ask: what happens when we stop demanding answers and start embracing the unknown?

0:00/1:34

Illustration by Eleni Debo

Uncertainty In Medicine

Season

1

Episode

10

|

Jun 5, 2025

Trusting the Process with Leila Simon Hayes

Today, we step inside the studio of visual artist Leila Simon Hayes, whose bold, shape-driven designs are born from a process rooted in imperfection, intuition, and trust. Through her story, we explore how Leila’s creative practice helped her navigate decades of chronic pain and medical dismissal, eventually leading her to healing not through certainty, but through listening—both to her art and her body. Her journey invites us to reconsider our own relationship with uncertainty, and to ask: what happens when we stop demanding answers and start embracing the unknown?

0:00/1:34

Illustration by Eleni Debo

Uncertainty In Medicine

Season

1

Episode

10

|

6/5/25

Trusting the Process with Leila Simon Hayes

Today, we step inside the studio of visual artist Leila Simon Hayes, whose bold, shape-driven designs are born from a process rooted in imperfection, intuition, and trust. Through her story, we explore how Leila’s creative practice helped her navigate decades of chronic pain and medical dismissal, eventually leading her to healing not through certainty, but through listening—both to her art and her body. Her journey invites us to reconsider our own relationship with uncertainty, and to ask: what happens when we stop demanding answers and start embracing the unknown?

0:00/1:34

Illustration by Eleni Debo

About Our Guest

Leila Simon Hayes is an abstract artist and award-winning designer based in Boston, MA. She creates work that is born from combining simple elements into surprising relationships. Made from a meditative dream space, inspired by her curiosity about the universe—with respect for what we can’t see—Leila's work muses on playful scale alongside rhythm and movement.

About The Show

The Nocturnists is an award-winning medical storytelling podcast, hosted by physician Emily Silverman. We feature personal stories from frontline clinicians, conversations with healthcare-related authors, and art-makers. Our mission is to humanize healthcare and foster joy, wonder, and curiosity among clinicians and patients alike.

resources

Credits

About Our Guest

Leila Simon Hayes is an abstract artist and award-winning designer based in Boston, MA. She creates work that is born from combining simple elements into surprising relationships. Made from a meditative dream space, inspired by her curiosity about the universe—with respect for what we can’t see—Leila's work muses on playful scale alongside rhythm and movement.

About The Show

The Nocturnists is an award-winning medical storytelling podcast, hosted by physician Emily Silverman. We feature personal stories from frontline clinicians, conversations with healthcare-related authors, and art-makers. Our mission is to humanize healthcare and foster joy, wonder, and curiosity among clinicians and patients alike.

resources

Credits

About Our Guest

Leila Simon Hayes is an abstract artist and award-winning designer based in Boston, MA. She creates work that is born from combining simple elements into surprising relationships. Made from a meditative dream space, inspired by her curiosity about the universe—with respect for what we can’t see—Leila's work muses on playful scale alongside rhythm and movement.

About The Show

The Nocturnists is an award-winning medical storytelling podcast, hosted by physician Emily Silverman. We feature personal stories from frontline clinicians, conversations with healthcare-related authors, and art-makers. Our mission is to humanize healthcare and foster joy, wonder, and curiosity among clinicians and patients alike.

resources

Credits

The Uncertainty in Medicine series is generously funded by the ABIM Foundation, the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, and the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation. The Nocturnists is supported by The California Medical Association and donations from listeners like you.

Transcript

Note: The Nocturnists is created primarily as a listening experience. The audio contains emotion, emphasis, and soundscapes that are not easily transcribed. Our transcripts are produced using both speech recognition software and human copy editors, and may not be 100% accurate. Thank you for consulting the audio before quoting in print.

Transcript coming soon!

Note: The Nocturnists is created primarily as a listening experience. The audio contains emotion, emphasis, and soundscapes that are not easily transcribed. Our transcripts are produced using both speech recognition software and human copy editors, and may not be 100% accurate. Thank you for consulting the audio before quoting in print.

Transcript coming soon!

Transcript

Note: The Nocturnists is created primarily as a listening experience. The audio contains emotion, emphasis, and soundscapes that are not easily transcribed. Our transcripts are produced using both speech recognition software and human copy editors, and may not be 100% accurate. Thank you for consulting the audio before quoting in print.

Transcript coming soon!

0:00/1:34