Web Weaving Herbals

A lot of people struggle with chronic illness. There are maladies in our world that are hard or impossible to heal, but the medical establishment can keep people living through them. I read the blog of Martha Grover, a woman who is living with Cushing’s Syndrome, and found the following thought provoking.

When you finally think that you’re ready to live again, you realize that you have been living but that it’s a half-life, a twilight existence- a purgatory of your own creation- and that this “ill” life will also have to be discarded. You realize with some trepidation, that the comfortable world that you’ve created will have to be taken down one brick at a time, just as your healthy life was obliterated, blown to pieces in the advent of your pain.

I’ve seen this in a couple of people. Illness can define a person – and when it does all the herbs in the world won’t really cure the problem. You hear them say “Oh, I’m the one with the bad back…” or “I am so prone to migraines I really can’t do anything like that.” They build up rituals to support their well-being (pill taking, bed times, naps, etc.) which help for a while. But what happens when those rituals MUST be followed? What happens when this person has allowed their discomfort or disease to rule their life?

Of course there are myriad ways anyone will respond to chronic illness. Here’s a few general observations I have made.

1) They can live within the illness, sometimes moving through diagnoses, always staying ill. They need it because it has meshed with their identity and they fear they will not feel whole without it.

2) They can be taken over by it – become a martyr to their dis-ease, giving it not only their identity, but their life. They might avoid social situations, never leave the bed, rely on pills and doctors to get them through each day.

3) They can submit where they physically and spiritually need to submit, but keep their spirit healthy. This is playing the “Glad Game” (someone out there also read “Pollyanna” as a small child?). What can you be glad for? If you are bed ridden you can be glad that you still have arms and hands to do things with. You don’t let the disease get you down. You don’t give it your life.

I know which of those three I hope I can lean toward, should life throw me that curve ball.

Disclaimer: I probably should have put this first. I am in NO WAY judging people who have chronic illness, are confined to their beds, or any of those challenging situations. Sometimes illness does rule, disability controls the scope of the actions, and rituals are essential to daily comfort. Really, I’m just thinking out loud.

I write this not to say “always be happy about your situation”. I write it to say that YOU are the one in control of your body and your wellness and YOU are the one that can give that illness total dominion over you. Or you can (like Martha) realize that taking back your well-being is a huge, step-by-step process. I know that you can do it.

The first thing you have to do is take the concept of sick/ill/disabled/weak away from the center of your personal image. We could all do this on one way or another – every one of us holds onto some little weakness as part of their definition.

Mine used to be a bad back – and in lots of ways it still is. Now, off the top of my head I am thinking that my dust/dog allergies can be pretty controlling. I wonder what else….I’m going to have to think about this today.