#HAWMC Day 22: Things We Forget

#HAWMC Day 22 Things We Forget

The Things We Forget

We can all use a reminder from time to time. We’re busy – Health Activists especially – balancing life, health, and online community is a challenge. When juggling so many things at once – it can be easy to forget the basic, yet fundamental, things that we know to be true (or important).


For today’s prompt – write yourself a reminder. It can be in the form of an online post. Maybe your reminder is related to health or well-being. Maybe it’s focused on staying positive. Maybe it’s a little joke that you have with yourself. Maybe it’s dedicated to your community. Or maybe it’s something related to writing (Cross your T’s and Dot Your I’s! – Spell Check is your Friend!). No matter what you decide to come up with – consider it a little piece of writing – and exercise your ability to be concise but powerful.



The first “reminder” I have chosen is an actual picture and quote of Frida Kahlo’s. It’s one which I like very much and would make into a magnet. Or I could print it out and tape it on my wall.


The reason I chose this particular pic/quote is because of the theme which is consistent with my last two HAWMC posts. And that would be the feeling of displacement. Lately I’ve been struggling with the feeling that I don’t fit in anywhere. I’m in a state of transition that for now has me feeling like I’ve lost my place in the world. As someone who is chronically ill and home bound, it’s easy to feel that I’ve lost my place. But beyond that, is also the feeling of being different, broken, fragmented, which I’m sure is partly due to my struggle with depression. Not only do I feel displaced within the world, but within myself. I feel broken.


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Thus, this quote, ” I used to think I was the strangest person in the world. But then I thought, there are so many people in the world. There must be someone like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true, I’m here, and I’m just as strange as you.”


It’s amazing how deeply this quote touches me. As I type this quote I not only have goosebumps, but I have tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. It’s as if Frida wrote this for me. I relate to her in so many ways. I feel so comforted by her words. Like her, I also feel so flawed and shattered right now. I feel displaced. I don’t know where I fit in, because there is nowhere for me. It makes me feel like I’m ok, even though I may be “displaced”, someone else has felt this way too. After all, she wrote that to me, as I’m the one reading it, and I picture her sitting here with me, telling me these words. And I suddenly don’t feel so alone. I feel ok. After all, she was. She led a full life, on her terms, and despite the pain, was unstoppable. I want to be as fearless as she was. Therefore my reminders are that: it’s ok to be different, I shouldn’t worry about “fitting in”. Rather I should embrace being different, being “strange” just as Frida did. She didn’t try to adapt to the world, instead, she made her own place in the world, through her fearlessness. She embraced her individuality. It can serve as a reminder to me when I start feeling overwhelmed and like I’m not good enough.  





 The second “reminder” is geared at my depression. I’ve talked about falling “down the rabbit hole” into the depths and darkness of my depression. Thus my reminder is the following quote:








“The dark does not destroy the light; it defines it. It’s our fear of the dark that casts our joy into the shadows.” - Brene Brown


Falling “down the rabbit hole” into depression is a very scary experience. In the depths of my depression it’s easy to focus on the negative, on the darkness. Yet, as stated in the above quote, my depression may be seen as shedding light to issues I need to face. It can be seen in a positive way, by allowing me to work on myself, to give myself the opportunity to grow. It is my own fears that “cast the joys into the shadows”, allowing me to only see and focus on the darkness, the despair. It’s common for someone who is depressed to feel that the pain of depression will never go away. To feel hopeless, dis-empowered. Yet it can be a time from which one can grow. Rather than avoid the feelings and that which is feared “the dark” , by exploring them, we are able to see past the darkness into the light, to look towards the shadows and once more find the joy. This reminder will be useful in giving me hope, which is something that is easy to lose sight of. Having Crohn’s, Depression, PTSD, and Fibromyalgia, it is easy to feel hopeless. But it’s important for me to see past my fears, to have hope and believe I will get better.


How do you intend to remind yourself of this particular truth that is sometimes forgotten? What would you remind your community? (Why not ask them to make reminders, too?)


I intend to remind myself of these truths by reading them daily (or more frequently if needed). When I’m feeling especially anxious I will look at this piece I’ve written and if I need to, will also write/blog. I will be tweeting the link to my blog, and also one of the pictures, to inform my “twitter community” of what I’m doing. I will suggest they make reminders in the hopes they find it helpful in coping.









@hipsteralice
April Blogger in Residency
Alice in Crohnsland for

http://www.whatthejules.com/april/335-hawmc-day-22-things-we-forget