Dr. Laura Gabayan was a physician-researcher, until she suffered a misdiagnosed illness.
When Palisadian Dr. Laura Gabayan began the Wisdom Research Project in 2022, the eight traits continually identified with wisdom were: resilience, kindness, positivity, spirituality, humility, tolerance, creativity and curiosity. Resilience topped the list as it was the trait encountered most frequently. Through her findings, she wrote: Common Wisdom: 8 Scientific Elements of a Meaningful Life (Redwood Publishing, March 2024).
Not surprisingly, Gabayan’s life is one of resilience. The only daughter of Kurdish immigrants from Iran, she attended eight elementary/middle schools. “My father was a doctor,” she said. “We first moved to Seattle, then Fresno, and finally the San Fernando Valley.”
She attended Taft High School, and it was the first time she was in one school for four years. From there she went to UCLA and then UCLA Medical School. But that was fortuitous because it was at medical school, she met her husband, an attorney, who runs a health center. His two bothers are doctors and one attended school with Gabayan.
Gabayan became a physician-researcher, and the couple moved to Pacific Palisades because her husband “grew up here and liked the area.”
In 2013, her life changed dramatically when she was misdiagnosed with autoimmune disease.
By 2015, “walking had become more difficult, my speech became muffled, and even the simplest tasks became challenging,” Gabayan said, “My illness had changed everything, and I began to question my days as a clinician.”
The cause of her illness was finally discovered: chronic Lyme disease. “I recall having some symptoms for three days when I was at UCLA undergrad,” she said. But, she was not treated for the disease, which can lead to complications and result in long-lasting problems, which can include arthritis, body aches and pains, constant or frequent tiredness, memory complaints and immune system response and activity (harms healthy tissues).
Once she came to terms with the fact that she couldn’t change her physical issues, but she could change how she thought about them, Gabayan said a shift started to happen. She slowly realized that her devastating condition was a way to look at life through a new perspective.
She hired a team for the Wisdom Research Project, which involved interviewing 60 “wise” individuals across North America, ages 50-79, over a seven-month period (October 2022–April 2023). Each interviewee was asked the same 10 questions.
The result was the book Common Wisdom, which helps people to view life differently: as “a warrior and not a victim.”
“The research and the interviewees gave me hope and new perspectives… when things look like they’re not in your benefit, just have faith,” Gabayan said. “Don’t live in fear. Live in faith that things will turn around and work out.”
Gabayan wants people to realize wisdom is not related to accomplishments or wealth but is a passion and love of life that results in meaning and depth.
She just released her second book, Common Wisdom Journal, which provides readers with tools to help with their personal development journey. Gabayan hopes the combination of the book and its companion journal will empower readers to take the first steps—and keep going—on a path to a more meaningful, fulfilling life.
The couple has lived in the Palisades for about 18 year and their four children attend Palisades High School, Paul Revere Middle School and Palisades Elementary.
Visit: lauragabayan.com.
The Gabayan family are residents of Pacific Palisades and are with their mom for her book launch.