Why keep doing what everybody else is doing, if it isn't working for you?
Creative solutions and new ideas have an important part to play in healing. If you've tried the recommended treatments and they aren't working for you, don't just keep doing the same thing. Be creative!
Apart from having a new perspective on actual treatments, creativity is important in everyday life with chronic pain. All the ways pain limits us poses practical problems. Sometimes it's annoyingly small things, like being unable to tie your own shoelaces, or not being able to make the bed. It all adds up. Of course there is grief involved when you feel limited, and acknowledging the grief is also part of the process.
You can't do things the same way any more, but maybe you can find new ways? Unleashing some new ideas on how you can manage practical problems will put you back in control and give you power to minimize the impact of pain. Empowerment in it's very best form! By using your own creativity you may be able to reclaim the parts of your life that now are gone. To actively stimulate creativity I use tools like colors, music and new surroundings. Getting out a bunch of post-its, setting a timebox and having a brainstorming session is always a good way to get started.
I also try to switch off and tune down my rational and critical mind while stimulating new ideas. Negative thoughts kill creativity pretty fast, so I try to keep the processes separate; creativity first, then when I have a bunch of crazy ideas I can sit down and analyze them.
Great blog! I came here from Virrvarr's blog (I don't think she meant to be mean or anything with her post, I think she just didn't know that you were already a blogger! :D )
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I have read lots of posts here over the last week and enjoyed it very much. I don't have "real" chronic pain but I have some pain in my shoulder, neck and back from an earlier sports injury and when it hurts over a long period I notice I get pretty negative, start worrying about how long it will last, etc. So it was fun to read here about different techniques to stay positive and get relief!
Congratulations on your award!!
Hello Irene!!
ReplyDeleteThank you:D So glad you enjoy the techniques in this blog! I haven't gotten round to making a good system of the old posts, but ... I hope you can find your way around ok.
I think Virrvarr did a great job of warning us about what can happen if we don't do a good job with our new blogs... just a spur to action for me!
The new blog will be launched in december, I am working on it already, getting ready to diagnose the health care system;)
PS: I was in Dagbladet in an interview about young people living with pain yesterday, things are happening in Norway:)
Oh that is cool! Wonder if it is available online, I did a quick search on Dagbladet but didn't find it. (I am a Norwegian living in the US.)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with blog #2, should be a great read I am sure!