Pretty Things

It was a late night. I visited with friends, watched antm. Acted a fool and cackled with joy. My head hurts now. I may have made the sore muscle analogy before, and if so, forgive me my redundance. But there's something different about my migraines after a good time. It's almost like the endorphins carry me through.

I still have the nausea and soreness and skull pounding torture, the dizziness and olfactory auras (Do you smell poo?), visual distortions and mental impairment. What I seem to lack is the irritability and depression, the self-flagellation and disappointment that can accompany my everyday migraines. The laughter tides me over, as corny as that sounds.

The same goes for photography. I like to go for walks and take pictures of whatever catches my eye. Then, when I'm inevitably less mobile later, I plug the memory card into my laptop and edit and sort through the images of outside. It knocks the pain back a bit, lifts my mood substantially and gives me something to post on my non-head blog (which I'm considering merging with this one. It may be time to stop compartmentalizing so much.)

Maybe some sort of productivity is the key. I've been teaching myself to sew and it is amazing. I'm focusing on restructuring old clothes, in the spirit of frugality and recycling, and have already completed four projects, two of which I can even wear in public! It's liberating to clean out the old clothes I don't wear, rip them to bits (not really) and stitch them back together into something new and interesting. Learning a new skill is a self-esteem boost, (not to get all after-school special on you, but I could use some extra sometimes), and the results are undeniably awesome. New clothes!

I am so grateful for my many distractions, my many pleasures in my life. I have a lot of pain, but I am lucky to have enough love and fun and pretty things to keep me smiling.

I hope you do, too.