journal page

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Meet My Foot Feat, day 4

It’s only DAY 3 of my “convalescence” and the thought of spending most of my time sitting with my foot up for 3 WEEKS is __________.  Fill in the blank and it’s probably close to the mark.

So far I’ve worked on CATNIPblog posts, worked on Peggy & my Happiness project, started reading a new book and watched far too much TV.  My “rear-end” is already beginning to hurt as much as my foot.

I have more time on my hands (and feet) than ever yet have less focus than ever.  Looking for something creative to add to my sit-down-activities I decided to finish pages (upon pages) I started years ago in my many journals.  

judy’s journal, collage, acrylic, marking pens

Today I picked a page that required no thought, just schmearing a bit of paint with my finger and doodling with marking pens.  I have no clue why I wrote the fishy-poem I remember from childhood on the page.

Fishy fishy in a brook

Papa catch ’em with a hook

Mama fry ’em in a pan

Baby eat ’em like a man

Need to catch up? Here’s what happened to me:

In pain, Need Sympathy

Food for the HEEL

 

 

 

 

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Being tired is exhausting

I look normal, I act normal (relatively normal).  However, I feel exhausted much of the time, my body aches from head to toe and my brain sometimes has trouble remembering or concentrating.  Please don’t tell me to exercise more, eat better, try acupuncture or go to a new doctor.  After 20 years I’ve tried just about everything there is to try that I can afford, swallow or legally do.

I don’t even care anymore what you call it: Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, malingering . . . it’s just tiring being tired much of the time.  I push through it otherwise I’d have no life.  But the price for pushing can be days of crashing so I pick and choose my commitments.

Judy's Journal, Mixed Media, Collage

judy’s Journal, Collage

No one knows what causes it or how to make it better.  Looking back, I think I’ve had it my whole life.  But I’m lucky because it didn’t become full-blown until I was an adult.  For teens and young adults it’s really hard. Read this article by teens and 10 things they want the public to know.   Teens who live with chronic illness and the 10 things they want you to know.

I’ve blogged about it before:

The Mask of Invisibility and me

Fibromyalgia, Dx: Hysterical Middle-Aged Woman’s Syndrome

I prefer not to talk about it, write about it, dwell on it.  It is what it is and I’m blessed that it’s not life threatening.  But today is World Awareness Day for neuro-immune illnesses of ME/Chronic Fatigue (CFS), Fibromyalgia (FM), Lyme disease, and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS). It’s an opportunity to raise public awareness of these conditions that impact millions all over the world.

It’s a good bet that you or someone you know has one of these invisible conditions . . . if you didn’t before, you do now.

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Who Could Ask For Anything More!

Love - Rhythm!

I Got Rhythm Haiku

Sing and dance your love
with the joy of grateful hearts
Celebrate life’s tune
 
Swaying to life’s beat
Lifting voices to the sky
Melody of  prayer
 

Here’s my latest LOVE-Page for the Book of Days. Not sure if it’s finished but I’m done! 

For whatever the reason when I was working on the journal page this song kept running through my mind.  It sounded wonderful because My Mind always sings in tune.

This video can’t be “embedded” so you’ll have to use your rhythm and click this link to hear Gene Kelly and the children sing and dance.  It’ll make you smile! Well worth the click!   http://youtu.be/LvglHa_P9BA

Here are the words for those of you who don’t want to hear the wonderfully joyous rendition of:

 I Got Rhythm by George Gershwin

Days can be sunny
With never a sigh,
Don’t need what money
Can buy.
Birds in the tree sing
Their dayful of song.
Why shouldn’t we sing
Along?
I’m chipper all the day,
Happy with my lot.
How did I get that way?
Look at what I’ve got.

I got rhythm,
I got music,
I got my man —
Who could ask for anything more?
I got daisies
In green pastures,
I got my man —
Who could ask for anything more?
I got daisies
In green pastures,
I got my man —
Who could ask for anything more?

Old man trouble,
I don’t mind him —
You won’t find him
‘Round my door

I got starlight,
I got sweet dreams,
I got my man —
Who could ask for anything more —
Who could ask for anything more?!

Old man trouble,
I don’t mind him
You won’t find him Polly
‘Round my door Oh…
I got rhythm,
I got music,
I got my man —
Who could ask for anything more? Oh…
I got daisies
In green pastures
I got my man —
Who could ask for anything more?
Who could ask for anything more?!
Who could ask for anything more?!

P.S.  I may not respond to everyone’s comment every time as I’m trying to figure out how to better “pace” myself.  (My tempo was much too fast last year.)  Please know that I read EVERY SINGLE ONE!  (As a matter of fact they can’t get posted unless I read and approve.)  

Please don’t stop.  I LOVE YOUR COMMENTS and

almost 1/2 of all this blog’s subscribers subscribe to the comments.

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Deprived of Touch

(With fibro, for those of you who don't know, the brain registers normal pressure as discomfort at the best and pain at the worst. Often people are reluctant to give a hug and we avoid unexpected or pressure since certain kinds of touch can be painful.)

In view of National Fibromyalgia Day today I was reviewing some of my therapeutic visual journals. When I came across these pages I did some time ago I recalled the studies done on baby Chimps.

In the 1960’s, Harry Harlow did research on baby monkeys and touch deprivation. The baby monkeys  were well cared for except they were touch deprived. They had no contact from other monkeys and little contact with their human researchers. They were put into a cage with  fake mother monkeys made of wire mesh with bottle of formula attached for the baby monkeys to drink. A second fake mother Monkey was made of soft and furry material with no bottle.

The baby monkeys clung to the soft mother monkey for hours. They would not go to the wire mother for food. Older monkeys would cling to the cloth monkey and when hungry would go to the wire monkey for brief periods of time to eat. When frightened all infant monkeys went to the cloth mother.

When the monkeys grew up, they showed anti-social behavior and could not get along with other monkeys or nurture their young because of the touch deprivation they received as infants..

Before  this discovery children in orphanages often grew sick and died from failure to thrive or when adopted had “attachment disorders”.  Based on Harlow’s discovery no one knew that these symptoms were a result of touch deprivation.

Some other findings:

  • In the 1970’s, James W. Prescott researched 400 cultures around the world. He found that societies that lavished more affection on infants and young children and were tolerant of teenagers expressing sexual affection towards one another were less violent than other societies.
  •  Seniors who are touched on a regular basis are healthier and less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
  • Pre-mature babies who are touched on a regular basis gain weight more quickly than babies who are not touched.
  • Healthy touch from another person slows the heart rate, decreases the levels of cortisol in the system, and eases anxiety.

Reach out and touch Someone!