Be at least as interested in what goes on inside you as what happens outside. If you get the inside right, the outside will fall into place. – Eckhart Tolle
I was waiting for my doctor recently when I overheard a conversation between two patients. One had been actively treating Lyme for years; the other was in the clinic for the first time. The patient who had been actively treating Lyme shared her experience with treatment, the many ways Lyme is contracted (at least according to the Lyme-literate community), and the politics of Lyme as it relates to diagnosis, treatment, insurance, etc., She talked about the Lyme documentary, “Under Our Skin” and then with some finality told her that any symptom was possible with Lyme. The last thing I heard her say was this, “You life has changed, you are in for the ride of your life, and nothing will ever be the same again.”
Knowing what we know personally about Lyme or from the Lyme community in general, is it possible to hold space for this person to have a different experience with this disease? When there is so much fear around Chronic Lyme, what information is useful and what information is stress inducing? And if you recognize the emotional piece as it relates to healing, when is being educated about Lyme a disadvantage?
Later that day I checked into my Facebook newsfeed and found post after post about Lyme disease. I made a point to check in with my body as I read those posts. I felt sad, contracted, and fearful with most of them.
At one time it was important for me to find my community, to be involved, to support and be supported by those people that understood. Living with Lyme is akin to living in the margins, finding your community is necessary, a gigantic relief. I have been an active part of this community for almost a year but recently started looking at how I am identifying myself as a “Lyme” patient instead of the many other possibilities that lie on the other side of Lyme. Although I have not overcome my Lyme challenges, it is important for me to see the “me” that exists outside of this often all-encompassing challenge.
Can you imagine what your life will look like when you are well again? I have to remind myself to do this exercise from time to time. Some people benefit from a vision board but I just like to name the things I will do again when I am well.
I am choosing to create new boundaries around anything that identities me as being a Lyme-patient. As it relates to LymeWell, I am choosing to let this go for now, knowing that the support and information for this already exists in this community. If I post a blog in the future, I will ask a couple site owners for Lyme related pages to post updates for my blog on their pages. These are pages you are most certainly already following.
Lyme patients often feel spent, physically and financially. The job to literally save your life is a serious one but I especially deserve to find joy now. So do you. It may sound like a tall order in the midst of extraordinary challenges, but I am determined to try.
I will continue to post to the Facebook page for Well Scent (https://www.facebook.com/WellScentApothecary). I hope to see some of you there.
Peace and love, love and light ~
Stacy
