I wrote this post the day after I registered this domain, and intended to post it during February.
And then I forgot about it until I found it again this week. I smiled when reading it, as it says all about my assumptions about pain and joy, and what I think Leap to Joy could be.
I’ve had chronic pain for the past 20-ish years. It took me this long to learn an undeniable lesson: pain doesn’t exclude joy.
You see, in the past when I had a pain flare, I would withdraw into myself and have a hard time finding and doing things that bring me joy.
This led to destructive behavior, like eating loads of crappy food when in pain and making binge-watching shows my go-to pain relief.
Especially in the last two years, this made me a very grumpy person. I don’t want to be that anymore.
I’ve discovered that this doesn’t have to be that way.
Yesterday I went to the office and played in my art journal for hours on end. It was pure bliss.
I also didn’t reach for snacks, nor did I watch tv. I just created. I even forgot to drink tea, until I got a coughing fit from the dry mouth.
It was, in short, perfect.
I still was in pain, and as I am writing this, the pain still hasn’t fully turned back to “normal”.
But that doesn’t matter. I’ve created and that brought me tremendous joy.
