Architecture is the learned game, correct and magnificent, of forms assembled in the light. ~Le Corbusier
I have been thinking a lot lately about how I can translate the improved health and continued healing I am experiencing into advice and encouragement for others. As the architect of my own health, the best way I can do this is to document my journey and explore the thoughts and philosophies with which I approach my wellness. Like the quote above says, we need to create in the light, and the more knowledge we have, the brighter our lights shine.
First I should correct my wording – I am not “experiencing” better health, I am manifesting it. It is not a passive action, as in the way we “experience” the weather, it is active, because each improvement is directly related to lifestyle changes and choices I have made. I am the architect of my current wellness path. And that has been pretty empowering – the realization that I have choices, and the bad choices I make directly contribute to the increase in my symptoms and the good choices I make directly contribute to the reduction in my symptoms. Sounds like a no-brainer right? So then why did it take me 13 years to reach this realization?
I have an idea as to why (based on my belief that western med/society is not about empowering the patient), but that is not the focus of this conversation. I am more interested in exploring how I got to this place of improved health and sharing what I hope can help someone else create their own blueprint for health.
I plan to do this in a series of posts, as it is impossible to cover everything all in one. My future posts will focus on first the trigger that sent us spiraling into chronic illness and if our lifestyle at the time of our trigger somehow predisposed us to our current chronic illness. I have a lot of theories about this and look forward to exploring them to see if anything rings true for others. This will of course require a look at all the many types of triggers – physical, emotional, viral, etc..
To continue the series I am also going to explore: nutrition, exercise, self-love/compassion, relationships, our environments – home, work, nature, etc., and our spirituality. These are all things I am addressing in my blueprint, and it is the combination of these things that I believe has brought me to a place of better health and overall wellbeing.
There are so many elements that go into developing and treating a chronic illness, and as we are all unique individuals, so is our experience with our illness. I know the blueprint for my health (which I am currently still in the processes of drafting) is not going to be your blueprint, but as all good architectures have done over the years, you can have a look at mine, and take elements from it that will help you build the foundation of your own blueprint.
As long as you believe better health is possible, it will be. But like all magnificent builds, it takes time, planning, and effort. You may spend months building a wall, only to discover it needs more stabilization. Or maybe one day you realize the foundation you poured is too weak to continue your build. Do you walk away from it completely? No, you acknowledge and address the problems with the foundation, give it time to set, and then move forward. Some days it is two steps forward, one step back, but as long as we keep stepping, progress is made.
Architecture, of all the arts, is the one which acts the most slowly, but the most surely, on the soul. ~Ernest Dimnet
Looking forward to hearing more about your blueprint 🙂
Thank you Melissa! It is going to be an interesting exploration for sure.
“…I have choices, and the bad choices I make directly contribute to the increase in my symptoms and the good choices I make directly contribute to the reduction in my symptoms. Sounds like a no-brainer right? So then why did it take me 13 years to reach this realization?”
It took me a long time to reach this realization as well, but I know why. I simply wasn’t ready. And I was using the excuse of being sick to deter me from taking control of my life.
“If I exercise, I have pain and fatigue, so why exercise?”
“If I’m too ill to cook, what will fast food really hurt? I have to eat, right?”
“I don’t do drugs or smoke, so let me have this one vice – be it coffee, chocolate, or fill-in-the-blank.”
Those are just some of the ways I justified making bad choices. The less I worked out, the more depressed I became. And the more unhealthy food choices I made, the more addicted I became to those unhealthy foods.
There’s so much I need to write about my manifestation but I’m still a work in progress. I really look forward to reading more from you. I’m so proud of you for taking these vital steps toward wellness. Excellent post!
“I simply wasn’t ready.” That is so true Jasmine – for you, for me, and for everyone at one time or another. We have to be ready, because it takes a lot of work and commitment. In fact, I am still making the coffee justification. A work in progress, right?
If you ever want to participate in my Blueprint Series and write a guest post, I would be so happy to have you! Thank you for your encouragement and support.
Boy, you two hit the nail on the head. I, like Jasmine, was reading the post and thinking, “It is so much work to be healthy. Sometimes it is easier to be sick.” Work on this, work on that, try this, don’t try that. I get dizzy just thinking about all the work I’ve put into my illness/wellness imbalance, and I’m not a whole lot further along.
It seems that I only can work on one or two areas of my life at a time, then the other areas where I may have made a little headway start to slide out of control again. Like lately I’ve been focusing on improving my diet/weight loss as well as increasing time in spiritual and social activities. In the meantime, my work on improved physical activity has taken a back seat. I just can’t seem to do it all, all at once.
I will be straining to hear your stories, hoping to figure a way out of this tire-spinning that I’m doing.
Looking forward your blueprint series. I think we all need to be architects of our own health and healing. It’s really up to us in the end isn’t it. Thanks!
Waiting to see the blueprint series. Just as u said it’s on going, we can’t give up!
thanks for sharing. you never know how many people you will help with your words. xo
I am more than excited to read your future posts. I have wanted to write one myself, but I just dont know how to start … I am looking forward to yours ! (:
This sounds like exactly what I need right now. I need to take responsibility for my health and how I handle all the day-to-day crisis that come with chronic illness. But I need help. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences. I’ll be looking forward to each new post.
Nice post. I also look forward to hearing more from you. I agree that a positive outlook is a GOOD thing!
Beautifully stated, as usual. I can’t wait to read about your journey.
It is always nice to read real stories from real people that have had experience, not just gp’s that don’t really understand how hard it really is, I would be very interested in your posts in the future. As I too still struggle some days to push forward.
Thank you so much for writing this – and for what you’re going to write!
As a Certified Health Coach, I help people build their own blueprints, as you put it. (Love that analogy!) Then help them use their blueprint to build the building they’re wanting to create.
Often I find that my clients *think* they’re ready, when they just *want* to be ready. As my husband says, “sometimes people want to have done a thing, rather than want to DO it.” (His point being, people say they want to write a book, when really, they don’t want to go through the hard work of actually writing it; they simply want to have already written one.)
Along the same lines, he & I were listening to a podcast by Frederica Matthewes-Green (Frederica Here and Now) and she talked about transformation. She said that everyone wants to be transformed, but nobody likes change. I think that’s very true because change implies hard work. Like Anna said here, “It’s so much work to be healthy…”
But there is SO much joy when you get your life back! It’s worth all that effort! =) Like you, I’ve learned how to live well with my fibromyalgia. These days, it’s not very often that my fibro holds me back. Most of the time, I can do whatever I want to do. It wasn’t easy getting here, but oh so worth it! Now I have the added joy of helping others get here too. =)
As usual your writing is wonderfully insightful and helpful too. Thank you for being you!! Love ya!
Kimmi
Thanks to The Fibromyalgia Network for sharing this post, and for everyone who took the time to comment. I am eager to share a new Blueprint post soon, but in the meantime, if you did not see the second installment here is the link: https://www.fibrohaven.com/2011/06/29/blueprint-series-whats-your-trigger/