Category: Musings

Mar282006

The Sound of Pain Dying

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In Jr. High we had a quirky little English  teacher.  He was a fussy, little bird of a man, flitting around the classroom like a Sandpiper. Pausing for moments to glance over one’s shoulder then skittering to the next student.

I still remember his detailed description of how to build a proper compost
heap: carefully place each item in it’s ‘correct’ spot, layer orange peels
and cabbage leaves just so, carefully pile on potato peelings, add a dash of coffee grounds for drainage — and
colour. Weird, the things that stick with you (that was more than 40 years ago).

It was he who introduced me to T. S. Eliot’s The Hollow Men with it prophetic pronouncement that the world would end "not with a bang but with a whimper!"

And, that’s another piece of trivia that has stayed with me over the years.

I’m glad it has. Because its a fitting way to describe the death of pain.

I’ve lived with grinding, crushing, excruciating pain over the last 4 years. And, now except for occasional flare ups that happen when lack of sleep meets tumultous weather, I have no pain.

And, it left with no fanfare. No bugles or trumpets. No sirens wailing.

It left with no bang. But, with a whimper.

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Jan102006

Delayed Reaction

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It’s a cloudy Tuesday, the temperature hovering near -3 C.

I’ve been sleeping better and longer lately. So, why am I so damn tired! And, why do I hurt all over?

Then it hit me!

Delayed reaction.

Have you ever cut yourself on something really sharp? So, sharp that you don’t notice the cut until you stick your hand in water or bump yourself. Then you think back and realize you cut yourself more than 30 minutes ago.

Delayed reaction.

Emotional hurts are like that.

Folks with Fibromyalgia (and I’m guessing other autoimmunine disorders) can be very sensitive to emotional stress. So, ripples in the fabric of relationships can be very distressing.

The weekend was one of those for me.

I thought I had handled it well. Actually I did.

But, the emotional stress took a toll.

And, today I’m tired. Crabby. And, in pain.

If you find yourself out of sorts with seemingly no cause: Look to the past. Sometime in the past 24 – 48 hours were you exposed to emotional stress?

If so, it’s likely the cause.