Ink Healing

You're sick, and not just with a cold or even the flu. You have something unexpected, incurable, and life altering. Your fate seems to be written in permanent ink on your soul. You begin to see your life in terms of papers covered in ink...lab requests, doctor appointments, lab results, treatment plans, specialized diets and exercises, information pamphlets. The list goes on and on. You feel as if you are drowning under the weight of all this medical ink.

You pray for the time that you can look at your calendar and not see a single ink mark, because ink marks are appointments of some sort. Appointments for being poked and prodded, disappointed and confused, angry and depressed. Turning the page of your calendar and seeing it free of ink feels is a respite and you pray that it stays that way for just one week, just one month.

Ink on paper becomes a prison, almost like a death sentence.

I feel this every month. The weight of ink, the dread of a letter from a doctor, an email from a lab. We will never escape it as members of a group that we never asked to be a part, autoimmunes. How can we have a life without this dread? Without this fear?

We claim ink as something not reserved for medical appointments and results. We claim it as something that brings us joy. That could be art, crafts, letters to friends, creative writing, or even permanent ink on your body.

Personally, I chose all these venues. I create art in my house, in my crafts, in recipes. I started my blog to be able to share information, life stories, and experiences. I took the plunge and brought art to my body. Tattoos that represent love, surviving, and the stories and people throughout my life. You will learn more of what my body ink represents as time goes on but for now just know that I was excited and terrified to take that jump, to have something indelible on my body. However, nothing has ever made me feel more alive, more beautiful, or more heard.

Reclaim ink for yourself, whether it be through writing, drawing, or even body ink. Heal through that ink. Make it something that soothes your soul and feeds your life energy. Have your own "Ink Healing."