This flower doodle is for my close friend J who had surgery on Friday. Everything went well and now she’s away outside the city at her parent’s home recovering.
I wanted to be at the hospital for her, like she’s been for me so many times in the past two years, but I couldn’t. My pain wouldn’t allow me to and neither would she. J has been a rock for me during my illness and I will never be able to express the level of gratitude I feel for her. She is the one person I know I can count on no matter what. I wish that I could do more to support her now besides just talking to her on the phone and sending text messages. She’s one friend there isn’t anything that would be too great for me to do for her.
Bright Flowers
When she’s back home in about a week’s time, I’m hoping we can plan a sleep over like two teen-aged girls. She’s done that for me a few times and we always have loads of fun.
I’ve been struggling to cope with a pain flare up since last week. The flare up started because I had multiple days of activity. Going out is a struggle for me. The motion in any vehicle I ride in sends pain shooting through my pelvis. Then my recovery depends on how far the ride is and how much walking I have to do when I get to my destination. Sometimes I can recover in a day but other times, like last week, when I have to go to multiple appointments or just out for the sake of leaving the house it takes days.
This pain flare up is compounded by swollen calves, ankles and feet, and more pain in my legs, back, and right hip. The hip pain is new and makes it difficult for me to sit. All of this is disrupting my sleep. So I either can’t sleep or after a couple of days of little sleep I crash and can’t stay awake – think narcolepsy.
Today, when it became clear that sleep was not an option, I decided to do something to distract me from the pain. A couple of weeks ago I started a doodle in my art/gratitude journal but didn’t know how to finish it. What was on the page was a roughly sketched frame with nothing in it. I decided to draw Gerbera daisies inside it. They are one of my favourite varieties of flowers. The brilliant brightly coloured blooms always put a smile on my face.
Gratitude & Creativity – Daisy with Frame
My art/gratitude journal is reconnecting me to parts of myself that I almost forgot ever existed, while opening me to learning many new things. But because I haven’t drawn much in years it is quite challenging for me to draw flowers. I spent a few hours sketching the daisies with a pencil. Then I used colour markers to fill in the details. I originally planned to fill the petals with bright colour, but as I coloured I felt I should leave them empty – I can always change it later. I had to concentrate hard to produce something I like. Focusing on drawing daisies distracted my mind from the pain for a little while and made the day go by faster.
My Small Surrenders 