Transforming the Pictures of Our Mind

In my last blog, The Setting, the Shutter, and the Power ofResolution, I talked about my 2015 New Year’s resolution. It's about translating 35mm film photography to my new digital SLR camera. The blog is more than that though; my story is a metaphor that unveils the face of opportunity when we are faced with the challenges associated with living with chronic pain and illness. 

A Universal Language

Most of you reading this blog know I am a writer of self-help books. If you have read any of the four books in the Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing the See-Saw of Chronic Pain series, co-authored with Jeff Miller, PhD, you know each day offers an exercise or a tidbit of information to inspire new ways for managing daily challenges. Each day begins with a picture chosen to convey a feeling on the topic at hand. They are positioned to do one of two things, reflect on our own treasured moments, or provoke us into action. A photojournalist knows the impact images have on him or her personally and in the hearts and minds of everyone who sees them. The language spoken through photography is universal.

“A picture held us captive. And we could not get outside it, 

for it lay in our language and language seemed to repeat it to us inexorably.”

― Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations

The Influence of a Title

Titling a picture seems like such a simple thing. However, it has a powerful impact on how the photo speaks to us and it provides infinite possibilities for bringing life into focus. While my title may be different from yours, it still reflects a personal journey and allows us to explore our feelings. You don’t have to be a photographer to do this.

Exercise:
Find a favorite photo, name it, and then write a few words about the feelings it brings to surface. You might not remember the date, or even the circumstances surrounding the photo, but you will remember how it made you feel.

The power of photos is evident; they have become a visual experience that is shared across social media. When our emotions erupt, we find camaraderie as human beings. We can share our journey, photographer or not, the connections are universal.

Looking Beyond Clouds

The Embodiment of a Pain Advocate.

This picture is from Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing the SeeSaw of Chronic Pain, Winter Devotions. I chose this particular photo for day sixteen, "Advocating for Pain” to represent several things. Living with chronic pain and illness can cloud our judgment. It can bring about tumultuous feelings, and sometimes cast a shadow over our desires. But, it’s more than that to me. This picture also represents a ray of light in the darkness, the promise of a bright sky, and treetops that lift our spirit upwards. For me, the telephone lines represent the connection and power we have to make a difference through advocacy. So, ad hoc, after the fact, I shall name this picture, “The Embodiment of a Pain Advocate.” 

What would you name it, and why?

Unchain Your Imagination

Experts tell us the power of a photo transcends all generations. So, next time you come across a shared photograph think outside the box. Take a moment; be flexible in your thinking.

Years ago in an effort to raise my endorphins through laughter, I began a photo journal of animals. I saved them for my personal enjoyment and I named them something that would spark the laughter that became buried by pain and illness. I resurrected my inner goofiness through laughter and photographs.  

We are born with an imagination and when we use it wisely, we loosen the grip chronic illness can create. Unchain your imagination. Share the creativity that lives within you.

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"Adversity is only an obstacle if we fail to see opportunity."  

Celeste Cooper, RN

Author—Patient—Health Central Chronic Pain Pro —Advocate

Celeste’s Website: http://CelesteCooper.com

Learn more about what you can do to help your body function to its potential in the books you can find here on Celeste's  blog. 

April is Poetry Recognition Month by Celeste Cooper

Take a Stand by Celeste Cooper 

Swirling ideas, each significant to plan.

Upholding brave principles and taking a stand.

Provisions of nature and all living things

Gives fortitude, fulfillment of what life can bring.

Taste the climb; take pause, ageless, forever;

Ours for the taking–precious gift to endeavor.

Inherited by forefathers, a guide for our path,

Achievement secured when we learn from the past.

So stand up we shall, securing our position;

When acted on, they are more than conditions.

Comrades, principles, nature, history, at hand

Are the tools that endure when taking a stand.

Excerpt from Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing the See-Saw of Chronic Pain, SPRING DEVOTIONS, here.

  

"Poetry is writing about yourself waiting

to see what will show up, the words are

the finger points of your soul.”  

~Sandford Lyne, author of

Writing Poetry from the Inside Out

Inner Expression:

 Coping with Pain and Fatigue through Poetry

Coping with chronic pain is challenging. Maintaining forward momentum in the face of unpredictable symptoms and fatigue is daunting.

Poetry is a conduit to our soul, providing energy to hurtle over the many obstacles we meet in life. It provides an endless path by heightening our senses: sight, sound, touch, and smell. It is the feel, the texture, and all that may not be present but is in the mind. Poetry knows no time, no era, no restraints; it is an ever-present expression of self or circumstances through the written word...

~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~

(Signature line appended, March 2018)

In healing,

Celeste Cooper, RN / Author, Freelancer, Advocate

Think adversity?-See opportunity!

http://www.CelesteCooper.com

Minimizing the Consequences of Pain and Illness by Exploring Your Creative Nature through Poetry by Celeste Cooper

Coping with chronic pain and illness is challenging, but self-expression through poetry is a way of diverting pain and minimizing its consequences.

Often thought of as the conduit to our soul, poetry provides us the thought energy we need to hurtle over the obstacles we face. It provides an endless path by heightening our senses, and  gives us texture, coloring us up inside.  In all our books, I give helpful tips for writing poetry, whether it be free form or rhyme, it doesn't make a difference, because we learn about ourselves, regardless.

I can't speak for everyone, but I know how I feel when I write a poem. Sometimes it's a work in progress for months or years, one poem. Sometimes, poetry allows me to explore feelings that are too painful to face, and other times—I am in awe of the words I scribe, they bring me peace because whether I am working through a difficult situation, or embracing the wonders of the world, I know when I'm done, I will feel connected to an inner creativity I only know through poetry.

I love it when the words fly coming together effortlessly, but that isn't always the case — at times — I have to put my words aside or work from a different angle. Writing from our soul may not always be easy, but it is always enlightening.

I hope you will pick up a pencil and a piece of paper. Write down some of your favorite words, you can find them in crossword puzzles, a good book, the dictionary, or make them up; that's the beauty of it. Let your mind float and your hands glide across the paper as the words guide you to a new place, a place hopefully free of pain and illness, but if you need to work that out, you can go there too. Just do it.

Following is a poem I started with four random words: truth, bird, broken, observe. The poem went through several transformations before I felt I created a deep meaning for myself. Some of my poems don't make a word of sense to others, but they don't need to. They are mine, just as your will be yours.

~`~`~`~`

This Is My Truth © by Celeste Cooper

Like a bird with a broken wing,

I can stray off course, my flight pattern disrupted.

Wounded from the fall, I will not judge, because

As a wise owl, I observe, I accept, I understand—

Before I take flight, I need time to mend, plan a new course.

This is my truth.

Imperfection as clear as a broken mirror,

Though broken, goals are transformed.

Seedlings forced into maturity will not thrive.

Accepting that mistakes are the seed, I cultivate.

The broken mirror affords a self-reflection of reality.

This is my truth.

I falter, sometimes wretchedly, but enlightened.

Sweet is the nectar of success—not synonymous to perfection.

Erupting from deep inside a reminder from Edison,

"I did not fail; I found 10,000 ways that won't work."

I accept my imperfections—only then—can I take flight.

This is my truth.

This Is My Truth—Take One

This is my truth

I am thrown off course

Like a bird with a broken wing.

This is my truth.

Imperfection as clear as a broken mirror,

Balance remains in sight,

Only through imperfection can I grow.

Reflection of my imperfection,

Acceptance as truth.

This is my truth.

I fail, sometimes miserably, but

I find my way in acceptance of imperfection.

Success is not possible without learning,

Learning is not possible without mistakes.

This is my truth.

In healing,

Celeste Cooper, RN / Author, Freelancer, Advocate

Think adversity?-See opportunity!

http://www.CelesteCooper.com