When was the last time you thanked your feet? Nelly (Pam Young's inner child)
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“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.” Denis Waitley http://www.purposefairy.com/5858/the-healing-power-of-gratitude/
Author, Deborah, found reasons to feel grateful to be in a wheel chair.
Ten years ago, cancer changed my life perspective. Tried to wrestle my feelings about it; ended up using photography to pour out my fear and other feelings about finding out, surgery, and the constant fear of it coming back. One of the more surprising projects was that year I was taking a digital photography class. I wanted to use photographs to make quilt patterns. Nice fun project after the surgery earlier in the semester. My professor was known for expecting students to work from their heart. I explained my project and he told me that I did better work before taking the class and my idea was just fun. I promptly burst into tears and said it was the only thing in my life that was fun. (I now understand how this nice considerate professor had students coming out of his meetings crying.) He pushed...I pushed back. I thought it over and said, "Fine, I am going to make a gratitude quilt about cancer." He was taken back as to the turn of events. He questioned, "You are grateful for cancer?" I realized that I learned a number of amazing things about myself, felt an out pouring of concern by people around me, and felt a closer relationship with my Savior and Heavenly Father. I spent the rest of the semester constructing photographic quilt blocks of things I felt grateful for because of cancer. Family, friends, faith, medical doctors, hospitals, drawing class, coworkers, and 9/11. The week before 9/11/2001 when planes crashed in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington DC was when I found out I had cancer. I was numb for a week. On that terrible day, I learned there are worse things than cancer.
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| In celebrating not having to have chemo, I cut my hair and donated it to Locks of love. |
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| Stopped feeling sorry for myself when I felt the tragedy of 9/11. |
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| Hospitals, medication, and trained assistants to my doctor made recovery faster. |
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| Drawing class with an amazing teacher and a friend that brought me the homework assignments. |
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| My faith in Christ comforted me. |
3 comments:
Glad I clicked on the pictures. Wow.
Lovely collages and quilt Ruth. Complicated and unusual.
Ruth, what beautiful artwork. I love the meds quilt, the 9-11, the art teacher and friend quilts. I think that creativity is one of the best ways to channel fear and to connect with spirit when the body subjects us to mortifications. I am so glad you are a survivor, and your reminders about gratitude are welcome and important to those of us who are heartsick. Big Hugs.
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