Page 27 - Seniors Today Jan20 Issue

room was transformed into a crafter’s studio.
Beads jostled with medicines, stones and dried
leaves fought for space with medical equipment,
Brightly coloured paints, crayons, yarns livened
up the room and her life. And so began her
journey, into a yet another, uncharted creative
realm.
“When life gives you scraps make fabric
jewellery” as someone once said. Rich and
colourful pieces of brocade and sparkling beads
mysteriously twisted and turned and gorgeous
pieces appeared. Beautifully designed and
trendy jewellery began spilling out of boxes
as if in a treasure trove. In art Mom found that
something, where she felt she had absolute
freedom — the freedom of expression.

The creative flow was empowering and transformative
Nicole Krauss beautifully said, “Bravery is
always more intelligent than fear, since it is built
on the foundation of what one knows about
oneself: the knowledge of one’s strength and
capacity, of one’s passion.”
The nature of chronic illness is that it is
ongoing and degenerative. You wake up in pain,
Twigs, flowers and leaves twisted into magical shapes
facing another day, deal with debilitating side-
Spiritual freedom effects and sleepless nights; how can you get out
Viktor Frankl, a concentration camp survivor, of bed in the morning? What do you do when
says in his life-altering book ‘Man’s Search for you can’t find energy or focus even to begin?
Meaning’ that man can preserve a vestige of You never really know what your day is going
spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, to look like - how are you going to feel today?
even in terrible conditions of psychic and This morning? Later this afternoon? You have
physical stress because, while everything can be to learn the pain of losing some of your skills
taken from him, the last of the human freedoms in order to experience the joy of creating at all.
— to choose one’s attitude in any given set of While it was painful for her to remember what
circumstances, remains. One finds a higher she used to be able to do, by not letting that pain
calling, a meaning in life, which comes from dictate her decisions, she found joy again and
purposeful work, love, and courage in the face began to enjoy her small victories. For as John
of difficulty. The meaning of life, which differs Wooden, NCAA basketball coach, says, “Don’t
from man to man, and from moment to moment, let what you can’t do interfere with what you
accrues over time. can do.”

27 SENIORS TODAY | Issue #7 | January 15, 2020