Writing about her experience of living with depression, poet Anne Sexton ended her poem “The Fury of Rainstorms” with these lines:
Depression is boring, I think
and I would do better to make
some soup and light up the cave.
I appreciate her wry humour. To call any personal struggle or chronic health condition boring is something those of us who navigate the ongoingness of illness know all too well. (In my case: Blood clots = septic shock = death. Thus, another new pair of itchy compression tights. Each pair costs 200$ I don’t have. Shoes that never quite fit because the condition that almost killed me left me with a swollen leg and one foot that is a half a size bigger than the other. A never ending parade of single socks in one load of laundry. Boring).
But Sexton is right. The soup must be made and the cave needs light! So in an ongoing effort to reframe I look for inspiration in the words I read, the art I look at and the ideas I listen to. Last week I wrote about building a community reading practice. I meandered my way through how story-taking and telling are inherently relational. And then I made the big claim that narrative bridge building is not only possible but necessary for one’s mental health. I stand by my claim so much so that, as promised, I’ve developed for you a starter list of pieces that grapple with the complexities of navigating mental and physical health struggles. There will be many more to come in future posts but here are a few gems from this past week:
Three artists battling chronic illness, using art to heal body and mind.
Artist Alice Hattrick’s book Ill Feelings about women who have turned illness into “sick art.”
“My illness is a passive thing that I’ve come to accept. I can’t escape it, so I have to create a space that works for it”
Alice Hattrick
An award winning art piece entitled “Cognition IX” that showcases the intersection between art and science. It reflects the cognitive dysfunction often found in chronic illness and was published in Scientific American.
When I got sick ten years ago I had no idea how much I would have to learn anew about living. The way I taught changed as well. I have become both story-taker and teller … whether I’m standing in front of a group of learners or sitting behind this keyboard. I am uncovering stories, both in and of myself, as well as finding those stories that are not mine but demand to be shared. It is not easy. But I can say for sure that this kind of learning is anything but boring.
Art.
Soup.
And a well lit cave.
A Living List
I often wonder, why. I think o Paul and his thorn, Elijah and his disease etc and ask why or how come. Never got an answer no am I prepared for a confrontational answer, so i try to minimize my thinking and see the puzzle when I'm graced to see it. I was challenged with a blood disease. I immediately know I could not over think this one with the others on my plate. So I declared LORD you save me by Your Blood spiritually and physically so there is no way I could accept this. It boring but equally scary. So luke Daniel i set my face to Jerusalem and did intention prayers and wait upon the God of Grace as He is the Only One and the mysteries belongs to Him. Yet we do have borings indeed and sometimes painful.