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.

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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.