Saturday, March 6, 2021

Spring Pleasures: Hobbies, Pain Diversion, And Discovery

 

Photograph Courtesy Celeste Cooper, Author

Spring is a time of reawakening after a long cold winter and this year it means so much more. It is a time to explore things that bring us pleasure as we break through the shell of our own winter cocoon.

 

I find great enjoyment in photography, and I am thankful that I have found ways to fill up my thought spaces on this learning journey with my digital Canon EOS. I am grateful to have hobbies that occupy my time in isolation from chronic pain, but this past year has been difficult because of the COVID-19 virus. In some ways, those of us who live with chronic illness have had a head start on the isolation that has affected so many because of this horrible pandemic.

 

That said, I still have plenty to learn about my camera, so there was no shortage of building on the mental seat of this four-seated teeter-totter I try to keep off the ground. Understanding the importance of mental, physical, emotional and spiritual balance has given me the foundation to make it through these trying times.

 

The canvas of life to a photographer is limitless and spring provides many photo ops as the season of birth gives rise to new photo moments. I anticipate a plethora of opportunities as I guide my lens toward my new granddaughter, who is full of light and life. I look forward to capturing butterflies and bees spreading their wings, trees blowing and bowing to the wind beckoning me outside to experience the essence of light and love for photography.

 

…Hobbies create the presence of desire in our lives and keep our mind open to opportunities for exploring our creativity. Learn to make jewelry, read palms, fish, line dance, take photos, make bird houses, collect antique watches, start a joke book, crochet, or hand glide. Take up scrap booking, wood burning, or calligraphy; it's totally up to you… [Excerpt, day 69, Spring Devotions in the Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing the See-Saw of Chronic Pain series.]

 

My hobbies are huge self-esteem boosters for me as one who lives with chronic pain. 
What hobbies would you like to explore this spring?

 

"We are all subject to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune; they are around us, in a space we do not control. This book is a gentle, yet forceful reminder that the best defenses against them reside within- in a space we do control, welling up from resources we can learn to cultivate. Hope here is equally soft and irresistible, much like Spring itself."

 

Dr. David L. Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP

Director, Yale University Prevention Research Center

 

[Inside the Cover, Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing the See-Saw of Chronic Pain, Spring Devotions.]


In healing,

Celeste Cooper, RN / Author, Freelancer, Advocate

Think adversity?-See opportunity!



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