When we’re doing things that are hard and forced on us, it is essential to have a sense of humor.
We’re starting a year which promises to have changes that will irritate at least half of Americans, no matter what/who you voted for. I’ve been thinking about what will help me to not only survive but thrive during this time.
The last week of the year for me is a traditional deep clean and reset to face the upcoming year (learned this from my mom). It probably had more to do with my mother being a school librarian with too many kids at home during winter break, but I still do as much as I can.
Clearing off my desk, I found “Really Sick Jokes: Facing Health Issues with Humor and Grace” by local artist and author Cathy Pfeil, a lovely book that focuses on handling chronic health issues with humor.
As I read it and enjoyed the author's beautiful illustrations, I thought a lot about how we approach our difficulties and what we learn from others. We often we will rise to face an extraordinary event, but it can be the day-to-day effort that is more important.
Pfeil survived a car crash that left her with serious and lifelong medical complications. She was already grounded in a spiritual practice of teaching and practicing intuitive arts, having been the Director for the Center for Spiritual Living.
Using those skills and mindset, she approached this unexpected lifechanging event with a practice of drawing beautiful meditative mandalas, drawing humorous cartoons about the experience and telling stories as an expression of hope and sharing.
It’s a small book, only 29 pages. Pfiel writes with disarming honesty, “I have to stop telling stories now to empty my catheter bag.”
She offers specific advice, “I suggest sharing strategies only with those who support you” and “crawl up out of the ditch and find what works for you.”
When you have a medical issue of any kind, there’s always someone who wants to share what worked for them, and that is not always helpful.
Some of Pfiel’s beautiful mandalas are in the book, and I am awed by the detail, sense of color and design in them. They are evidence of deep connection and thought.
And that’s a great way to handle the upheaval in our world, to create something we connect to. Charlotte Wood says, “To create is to defy emptiness. It is generous, it affirms. To make is to add to the world, not subtract from it.”
In that spirit, as we begin a new year, I’d like to challenge you to connect, to create, to explore your world, and to use humor and grace in the upcoming months.
Pick up a new journal, break out your art supplies, walk along the shoreline and see the beauty we all share. Tell some sick jokes. We need that as much as we need strength and courage.
"Really Sick Jokes" is a great gift for anyone experiencing health problems and wants to find the humor in them. The book is available at Cathy Pfeil's website.
Amy Lewis focuses her column on the literary world of Thurston County, spotlighting writers, small presses, book artists, poets, and storytellers of all types. Contact her – amy@thejoltnews.com – if you have a literary event, book, or reading.
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