I have been searching for another person who has blogged about spinal surgery. Finally, I found one and in desperation left a comment on the blog even though there had been no activity for months. I got a reply! In the reply I got a wealth of support, encouragement and advice, far beyond what I had been expected.
I still can’t thank you enough, TitaniumBabe!!
One of the best pieces of advice, at least to me, was to try to discover new passions, which I have been passively doing for a couple months. But TitaniumBabe gave me active, practical and useful advice; she listed numerous activities I could do!! I have been focusing on all the things I can’t do, all the things I used to love doing that I am physically unable to, instead of all the things I can discover new passion for.
One of her suggestiongs involved my daily walks. Because I am recovering from back surgery, I am unable to excercise in any traditional sense of the word. In fact, the only ‘excercise’ I can engage in on a regular basis is walking. Even the relatively mundane activity of walking tires me out and often increases the pain, if I overdo it. However, if I walk
just the right amount I actually feel better when I finish. Currently I am limited to twenty to twenty five minutes, three times a day. While I do enjoy getting outside, I was starting to get bored with the same walk everyday… TitaniumBabes adivce may seem simple to some, but it did not occur to me that such a small change could actually make walking much more enjoyable. She told me to take pictures while I walk, and she advised me to do it purely for my own enjoyment!
It is really interesting what you notice about your neighbourhood when you are looking at the minutae rather than just glazing over everything. The same flower can be captivating at each stage of it’s life cylce, the journey from bud to flower to slumber now forever immortalized in my concious memories and in the picutres I took. Even the simple and organic act of trees growing leaves is beatiful
when looked at up close! The colour matching of a window box and the painted brick below it becomes art when you stop to look.
So my walks have become much more than walking. They have opened me up to the world of beauty that is right out side my door. Soothing for my body, and soothing for my mind.
I have decided to share some of my images with you. Hopefully you find some beauty in these pictures, and don’t forget to slow down and look around sometimes. Don’t let it take an injury for you to be able to see the beauty in the ordinary, you will miss out on so much.
As always, thanks for reading! –S.
