Health Archives - Page 2 of 2

Gratitude from Calamity

Life changes quickly. My Summer indolence was transforming into Autumn productivity when two developments changed everything.

An itchy throat became a bad cold. I had body aches, congestion and sleepless nights. I lost my appetite and could not concentrate. I cancelled an artist retreat to the Bay of Fundy. I just wanted to hibernate until I was healthy again.

attrinuted to Vincent Van Gogh “The saddness will last forever”(https://i.redd.it/jcivoov7zf781.jpg)

Hurricane Fiona struck the Maritimes September 24. Falling trees in our neighbourhood knocked out electricity for five days. A wood stove provided heat. We ate the contents of our refrigerator before things rotted. A radio provided news and batteries provided light.

The Sublime Force of Nature
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Snow Storm – Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth, 1842
(https://media.tate.org.uk/art/images/research/1588_9.jpg)

The two events created similar effects on my psyche. My cold was a personal disruption. The illness squashed my spirits and enthusiam. I lost my gumption to tackle daily activities. I berated myself for not taking precautions. I felt despair and hopelessness. I gave up.

Although all of the Maritimes was affected by Hurricane Fiona, I felt personally victimized, powerless, and trapped. The weather’s change from benign calm to violent unpredictability over a few days was hard to comprehend. Those ten days of calamity were very difficult to accept.

Now my life is back to normal, which is wonderful.

How do I evaluate my calamity? My setbacks are small compared to what other people are facing. There are so many who are dealing with serious irrecoverable health issues. Floridians living in the path of Hurricane Ian face months or years of loss, rebuilding and financial stress. Ukrainians face terrible life and death incidents that seem to have no end. By comparison my calamities seem trivial and somewhat embarrassing to admit.

We often only treasure something after it is lost. I had been taking my health and safety for granted. It was a shock when they were lost. The days of sickness make me thankful for my days of health.

I appreciate having an ordinary Autumn day. I felt an amazing elation when the lights in the house flickered on again. I won’t take for granted the trappings of 21st century life: abundant food, energy, communications, information, travel and comfort. Life is good, very good.

“Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.” Henry David Thoreau (https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/lost-quotes)

Autumn

Summer is Ending

I have a hard time enjoying September. Although the weather is still pleasant, a notable change happens after Labour Day. Holidays are over, school and university classes begin. Thoughts turn to work, the harvest, and preparation for winter.

I am sad about the end of summer, and my plans for autumn are blank. In years past I I felt a desire to create paintings suitable for gallery showings or to do home improvement projects. Today I don’t feel inspired by these activities.

Autumn is very much the metaphor for aging. I feel the aging process more strongly than ever. A new season of life is approaching. Are the good times of summer coming to an end?

Change of Season

Like each autumn day becoming slightly cooler and darker, the vitality of mid-life is waning. I take more naps, I need a magnifier to read, and I feel twinges in my hip. What will the autumn of my life bring? Should I accept this slow deterioration?

Never Say Die

An urgent voice is saying “Grab the ring while you can”. Don’t settle for a slow slumbering autumn. It’s telling me to act on my bucket list. Try a few new things! Have an adventure! Travel to Japan, meditate quietly, create a new recipe or snorkel in the Caribbean.

Dreaming of new adventures is helping me accept September. I want to get emotional about something! Let new experiences pull me onward.

Birthday Thoughts

Happy Birthday?

My 76 th birthday is at the end of May. I am having a difficult time celebrating. I feel more loss than gain. The year has added a few more wrinkles, increased my alopecia, and blurred my vision. Overhearing my dentist refer to me as that ‘kindly old man’ popped my self-belief that I was still in middle age.

How Long?

The author, Oliver Burkman, recently wrote that we are typically born with 4000 weeks of life. Crap! I have used all of my allotment. How can I give myself another 1000 weeks?

Am I a Statistic?

The internet offers endless advice on how to live longer. While advice is valuable, it also creates stress. Should I be more careful and cautious? Am I walking enough? Too much? Am I eating the best diet? Am I doing the right exercise? On and on and on.

Life expectancy is a statistical estimate. There’s no guarantee how long life may last. And no way to know. While I sometimes feel old, and I foresee infirmity in the future, I rebel at these thoughts. I don’t want to base my life on statistical analysis!

Carpe Diem (Seize the Day)

Hell no! I’m not ready to go. I won’t give in or give up!
I still am healthy so it’s my time to live my dreams and indulge in my passions. I want to do the things I love regardless of consequences (well almost regardless). I want to heed the advice from this popular quote.

If I had my life to live over, I’d dare to make more mistakes next time. I’d relax, I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I’d have fewer imaginary ones…If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies. “
Nadine Stair

My birthday wish is to be more carefree and less serious about life. I want to view life as a wonderful sequence of moments across a full spectrum, from hard to easy, from sad to happy. I want to take down the filters of apprehension and experience the thrill of the ride! I will happily take another 1000, 500 or 50 weeks of moment to moment life.

Paintings of Life in the Moment (from NSCAD Studio Sessions)

“Life is what happens while busy with other plans” Oil on Canvas

It’s Not too Late

Age is Only a Number

The joy of creating art can start even very late in life. I was in my 60’s when I made a commitment to make art my avocation. My father was a small business owner who worked long hours until he retired at 75. He developed a jack-of-all-trades capability to keep store and home in working order and had little time for hobbies or art. After his late retirement, dad started bird carving lessons. Over the next 10 to 15 years he carved and painted many birds- mostly song birds with the occasional hawk or owl. These birds provided many satisfying hours of labour and creativity.

Art After Four Score Years

As the years passed, my parents moved to an assisted living home. They no longer were able to cook or do yardwork or household chores.

The Garrison Green Seniors’ Home in Calgary is a wonderful place to spend the later years of life. The many in-house concerts by musicians of all genres, provided cultural enrichment of the residents.

This facility had a fully equipped art studio which was open to all residents. The studio provided art instruction on drawing, painting, collage and ceramics. The studio provided paper, canvas, brushes, paint, art books, tables and easels to anyone (residents and guests) who wanted to try art. It was open all day, 7 days a week. An amazing variety of artwork, created by the residents, were displayed in the halls and public areas. The art studio became a vibrant community, alive with inspiration and creative energy.

To learn more about the Garrison Green art studio: https://unitedactiveliving.com/communities/garrison-green/?utm_medium=adwords&utm_campaign=google&utm_source=gmb-listing#t1)

My mother had been a busy housewife and charity volunteer. She was a sewer, but she never showed an inclination to draw or paint. In her 90th year she discovered a new passion in the art studio. She went to the art studio almost every day and created many beautiful paintings. Her landscapes featured the mountains, trees and flowers which she loved. My father, after he stopped carving, also took up painting and continued to make art well after he turned 100.

Some of my most enjoyable visits with my parents were in the art studio, painting together.

Satisfying hours in the Garrison Green art studio.

Legacy

Art doesn’t have to be professional to be meaningful. Art satisfies the creator, and if the work is heartfelt, it provides meaning and value to the viewer.

Sadly mum and dad passed away during (but not due to) the COVID pandemic. It is a comfort that I have a few artworks that remind me of their creative spirits.

Thank You

Response to the Blog

This week I announced the existence of this blog to a number of artists in my community. I felt nervous after the email went out. Would anyone care?

I am grateful for the positive and encouraging responses I received. It has opened up a dialogue with others that may never have happened otherwise. That is what I was hoping for.

I realize that I can’t connect with everyone. But connecting with a few people with some of my posts makes the blog very worthwhile.

Thanks!

My goal is to produce a new posting every week, so stay tuned.