Images from the Heart: Unfettering Chronic Pain by Celeste Cooper

Treasures come in many forms and can mean different things to different people. When we discover our treasure—a lost picture, a rare doll, a long sought after coin, or a rock—it brings a twinkle to our eye and provides a calm blanket to our soul. Ahhhh, there it is.

[Excerpt] Cooper, C and Miller, J. Broken Body Wounded Spirit: Balancing the See-Saw of Chronic Pain, Spring Devotions edition, One Man’s Junk Is another Man’s Treasure.

A Treasure in Time

 “What we see depends mainly on what we look for.”

~John Lubbock, author of The Pleasures of Life

Unchained and reclaimed—photography speaks

Each day in the Broken Body Wounded Spirit: Balancing the See-Saw of Chronic Pain  series Spring — Summer — Fall — Winter offers a photograph meant to inspire new ways for managing the daily challenges we face. So, it’s only befitting to encourage you to do this exercise.

·        Find a favorite photo and name it. You may not remember all the events surrounding the picture, but you will capture how it made you feel.

·        Write a few words about it or assign a favorite quote that reflects your sentiments.

·        Share it on social media or keep it in a personal journal.

In the world of chronic pain and chronic illness, losing our ability to choose is often the tallest hurdle we face. This choice is entirely ours; we should embrace it.  

Metered, measured, and meaningful, light allows me to capture my feelings in the moment. Finding the right settings is a metaphor to finding the balance I need to move forward each day.

In healing,,Celeste

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

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Celeste Cooper, RN

Author—Patient—Freelance Writer at Health Central & ProHealth —Advocate

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

A Spring Metaphor - Sculpting Our Thoughts on Pain

Though we have an idea of what to expect, spring unfolds differently. This year, we saw new records, and new challenges. In some places, spring came early and gave us a countryside bursting with color and new life, while other places are experiencing a late winter. This change and unpredictability is a metaphor for those of us who live with pain and chronic illness.

Our thought seedlings give life to our spirit and allow us to see challenges as motivators. But, some storms rock the earth beneath our feet. As a migraineur, spring storms throw me to the floor and knock the wind out of me. However, when I stand up again with my partner, challenge -- I will lead; I will rumba in a new direction and thank the spring storm for its nourishment to the earth and for providing me promise of new life. 

I find great strength, comfort, and diversion through poetry and photography, and I am thankful that I have found ways to fill up my thought spaces by writing for others who share this journey with me. The following photo and poem are excerpts from Spring Devotions in the Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing the See-Saw of Chronic Pain series.

               Day 4 – Learning to Rumba to Rumbles

To Rumba with the Universe

by Celeste Cooper

Twinkles of light rumba across the morning dew,

While butterflies dance in the wind.

Tumbleweeds glide across the earth's open fields,

Blown away in time to explore a new path.

Fear cleansed by rain exchanged for the joy of freshness,

The sky opens, the sun bumps against clouds.

Renewal of spirit, the earth in cadence with my wits,

All in rhythm, as if, I rumba with the universe.

Thought Seedlings

Do you rumba? Do you like the name I gave the photo? What would you name it?  

Take a stab at changing up my poem to make it yours. My poems are not perfect, I share them so my readers know they can also express feelings and touch a sense of self. 

"Imperfection is relatable." 

Lauren Conrad

Tell me what you think in your comments, because I love to hear how it speaks from your heart to mine. In healing, Celeste

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Learn more about what’s between the covers of Spring Devotions book edition here. http://www.celestecooper.com/spring-devotions.

Thank you to our readers for your kind thoughts and uplifting reviews of Spring Devotions in the Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing the See-Saw of Chronic Pain Series. Too all our new readers, welcome.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0615958664/

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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. Subscribe to posts by using the information in the upper right hand corner or use the share buttons to share with others.

All answers and blogs are based on the author's opinions and writing and are not meant to replace medical advice.  

Breaking the Shackles of Chronic Pain through Photographs

In my blog, The Setting, the Shutter, and the Power of Resolution, I talked about my 2015 New Year’s resolution - "Learning to use the manual settings on my new digital SLR camera". I think of that blog as a metaphor for transforming adversity into opportunity, a concept I use to cope as a person living with chronic pain and illness.

Photographs Speak All Languages

A universal language is revealed through photography. That’s why, as most of our readers know, my co-author and I use our photographs to convey feelings associated with the daily quotes and affirmations we share to inspire you to interact with through the exercises and questions we ask in the Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing the See-Saw of Chronic Pain series. http://amazon.com/author/celestecooper

For this piece, I want to share a photo from my personal collection that is shared in our Winter Devotions book. http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Body-Wounded-Spirit-Balancing/dp/0615924050/
Day Twenty

This photograph is from “Day Twenty”, a day that explores how we deal with brainfog, which often accompanies chronic pain and illness.

We transform the pictures in our mind when we give them a name that expresses how we feel. Today, I think I shall name it…

Beauty in Obscurity: Enhancing Our Vision

As the poet Hannah Moore said, “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.”   So, I propose this to you...

What do you see in the photograph? How would you title it today, in this moment?

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Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing the SeeSaw of Chronic Pain,

WINTER DEVOTIONS is available in paperback at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and  Kindle. 

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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

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. 

The Setting, the Shutter, and the Power of Resolution

I know, I know, it’s not even Christmas yet. But this is a story about my New Year’s resolutions from THIS year, January 2015. Since I live with chronic pain, I know the importance of taking an inventory on what I want to do and what I can do. This resolution was certainly both, even though the later has been questionable. You see, the very first time I saw the world through the lens of my 35mm film camera; I fell in love with photography. But film photography has become a dinosaur, so I set about figuring out how to fulfill my desire to capture and manipulate photos using new technology, leading me to my 2015 resolution.

I will learn to use my new Canon Rebel T5 SLR camera!

There is an underlying story here about keeping up with the times, embracing change, and all that good stuff, to be revealed.

Resolution vs. Resolution

I struggled to translate what I know about film photography to digital photography. I even bought the book for Dummies specifically for my camera. My New Year resolution, I would learn, was harder to achieve than setting the resolution of digital photographs.

Having short-term memory loss, I couldn’t remember from one page to the next; white balance, color space, or focal plane, my head was spinning. I am embarrassed to say, I couldn’t even remember how to turn the darn thing on. But if I am anything, I am tenacious.

So, I ditched looking at the book from an academic standpoint, deciding it was more valuable as a resource. After all, we don’t read an encyclopedia cover-to-cover—right? (I have since found my difficulty with this book is not shared with my otherwise mentally sharp friends, I wouldn’t want you to think this is a bad book review.)

Intimacy with the Inanimate

Six months in to the New Year, I set my sights on accomplishing at least one goal.

Trash the anxiety and pick up the camera.

I would soon learn one of the most valuable tools on a digital camera is the DELETE BUTTON!

My Chronic Pain Friend and the Shutter Sisters

Probably the best advice I received regarding digital photography came from one of my chronic pain sisters. You see, she also loves to do what I do. She knew I was struggling, she understood why I was struggling. In one exchange of emails, she asked me a question that would change my world.

Have you heard of the Shutter Sisters?

I had not, but I have now. I immediately went to their website. I bought their book, and I quickly became intimate with my camera. I forced myself to only use the manual settings, and I did what I did not think was possible, I fell in love with digital photography.

The Cradle of Perfect Imperfection

Here’s How it Happened

I found the LIGHT METER! Oh, what a glorious day that was. It was my “ah ha” moment, MY “light switch” was on. Terms I thought were lost to new technology like aperture, depth of field, F-stop, lighting, filters, subject, ISO were all there. It is so much more than becoming intimate with the inanimate, it was like that first time I zoomed my lens in on the stamen of a flower, I was detailing my feelings, setting a historical moment in time, and I was going to be able to capture it the way I wanted. More than that, I found I have Shutter Sisters that can see what I see the instant before I release that shutter. They get why I do what I do as a writer of self-help books too. 

These people, my fellow passion driven brothers and sisters, understand that automatic doesn’t always emote what I am trying to capture. To me, imperfection often brings clarity, character, and a feeling of that moment that will forever be etched in my mind, in my heart, and in my soul.

Miles to Go before I Sleep

Those words, “miles to go before I sleep” (thank you Robert Frost) can mean many things to those of us who live with daily pain, but in the context of this blog, it simply means that for all I have learned, for all I have regained, I have so much more to accomplish. That’s the beauty of it. I am a work in progress and so is my photography.

So, before you give up my friend, know that your “ah ha” moment is coming, but you can’t have it if you give aren't determined.

“Many of life's failures are people who did not realize

how close they were to success when they gave up.”

~Thomas A. Edison

Thank you Thomas Edison, the brilliance of your wisdom continues to light the world and guide me as I embrace the power of perseverance.

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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