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Jen Rez's avatar

Beautiful!

Weirdly my mum also always had a fear of developing ME - not her diagnosis but she has PEM/fatigue. Some little inner knowing? 🤷

(Not a soap box just a thing) Oh and fast walking can be required with blood pooling/autonomic function and just to baffle people 😂 Glad in your case you can slow down.... 🤔 Never really stopped to think the ability to walk slow is like a joy? An adaptable joy - sitting/lying also good.

Thought provoking in many directions as usual 😁

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A Wild Green Heart's avatar

Thanks Jen.

"An adaptable joy" - I think this is essential! To find joy in new ways, new shapes is a necessary work - otherwise we live in the past, constantly frustrated at the joys we no longer experience. There's enough difficulty without putting ourselves through that! And while I often long for more energy (cleaning half a floor just isn't satisfying 😂😭), there's no way I would choose to return to the pace I used to live at, or even most of the activities that I used to go to for leisure.

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Jen Rez's avatar

Bittersweet is not quite the right word but the closest I've found so far for "don't want before times...might like the physical capacity of before times tho." It's alright, dark chocolate is bittersweet and it's my favourite 😆

Double well done on the floor to get half done ✔️ to stop when appropriate 👏

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A Wild Green Heart's avatar

85% dark - the ideal chocolate 😁

Bittersweet is a good word for what we're describing. I also often return to Jennifer Brea's words at the end of "Unrest":

"You have to be able to hold two things in your head. This illness destroyed my life. But what it showed me, I could never give that back.

I want to be well. I want to wake up tomorrow and be well. And yet; I am grateful for every inch of my life.

I am still here. I am still here."

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Dru Jaeger's avatar

Thank you so much for this, and for the reminder of the beautiful poem.

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A Wild Green Heart's avatar

You're welcome Dru, thanks for reading

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Eva M's avatar

Unlearning the fast walk was a thing for me too 😆 beautiful message again, thank you for sharing the little nuggets of your ME journey, it’s always different and the same somehow!

John O’Donohue writings have also been one of my favourite captions and quotes, but I surprisingly never read a book of his. Quotes and captions are slow books too maybe 🥰

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A Wild Green Heart's avatar

Thanks Eva. Appreciating the nod to "different body, common ground"...

Anam Cara is the first O'Donohue book I've picked up. At my reading pace, reading books is slow reading 😂 I'm still in the first chapter!

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Eva M's avatar

Jup know that feeling too! 😆 Let me know if it’s a good read. His Anam Cara quotes are my favourite!

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A Wild Green Heart's avatar

Oh, it's already brilliant! I found two short passages next to each other that perfectly describe who Pomona is to me, and who I hope to be for her: ❤️‍🔥

"A friend is a loved one who awakens your life in order to free the wild possibilities within you."

"The life and passion of a person leaves an imprint on the ether of a place. Love does not remain within the heart, it flows out to build secret tabernacles in a landscape."

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nicholas tandy's avatar

I thoroughly appreciate this message beautifully described.

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A Wild Green Heart's avatar

Thanks Nick 🙏🏼

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