Lisa Marie Blair

My body and mind are a complete wreck today. Part of it is last night’s indulgences, and part of it was today’s anxieties and stresses.

My family has been going through a hard time lately and today was a day to face some hard truths head on. Today I had to be brave, to open up, say what is on my mind and in my heart, and set boundaries and demand that things change so that one day things might really, really change.

It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do, but at least I didn’t do it alone. We came together as a family. For so much of my life I have been the caregiver, the advice-giver, the strong, loving, and dependable one in my family, but lately I have been wondering when and who will ever be all of that for me? Part of me thought, “no one and never”. Part of me thought, “at least not until you ask”.

So, I asked and to my pleasant surprise everyone answered and I was reminded that despite all we have been through, separately and together, we turned out to be a surprisingly well adjusted, loving, and connected family. We have some big problems and we carry heavy baggage, but we are blessed in all the most important ways.

The weekend is finally here and with it a more relaxed, or more accurately, an unconcerned attitude. I feel unbothered and unaffected, almost detached, and it feels good.

Lately I’ve been drifting unanchored, at the whims of currents I cannot control. I’ve been swept up in the emotions and problems of others for too long, and perhaps my mind has hit a limit and has mercifully shut down some of that emotion and empathy I seem to perpetually have too much of.

The downside is my patience is thin and nothing feels particularly important to accomplish right now. All passions are dampened and productivity is suffering. THe upside is, I’m in a sociable kind of mood instead. I want to talk and laugh. I want to connect with the people around me and have a little fun for a change. So, that’s what I’m doing. No work is getting done today, but there are more pressing needs at hand.

Lately my favorite part of Friday has been dinner time. These past months I’ve been forced into a bland, low-residue, and often liquid diet in an effort to cope with a severe ulcerative colitis flare up, but on Friday nights I let myself one cheat meal. Tonight we are picking up baby back ribs, burgers, and margaritas from one of our favorite restaurants.

You don’t realize how exciting food can be, or how much the texture, flavor, and taste of food contributes to your quality of life until you can’t have it. This dinner, and every Friday night cheat night, are the highlights of my entire week. I suffer every Saturday morning, sure, but I’ve never regretted it once.

The weather has improved today. More fall like than winter, which is an improvement over the past few days, but I’d prefer the warmth and sunshine of summer were back.

The week can’t pass by fast enough. I’m in one of those moods where I’d rather be anywhere else and doing anything else other than working. There is nothing particularly irritating or stressful happening at my day job. I just have so much more going on in my personal life and so much I need to do, for both myself and others, that anything I do here feels almost pointless.

I don’t want to feel that way though. I know my work is important and I have always felt fulfilled by it. I don’t want to lose that feeling or focus. I don’t want to always wish I was somewhere else. Doing my best work no matter what the task or goal has always been a source of pride for me and slipping into producing work of low quality or substance would result in profound disappointment in myself.

I suppose I have to work on dividing and balancing my work and home life, though I’ve never been a believer that the two are or should be separate. There is only life, and it happens to you all the time and wherever you are, but I guess some thoughts and emotions, worries and preoccupations must be cast aside from time to time so we might attend to other more urgent or important matters.

They may not even need to be cast aside, but simply allowed to come and pass without resistance or obsession.

It’s my bi-monthly infusion day, which means I spent the morning hanging out with the nurses in the oncology/hematology department getting my 8-week dose of medication before heading home to rest through the late morning and early afternoon hours.

I always take off from work on my infusion days. Not just because I’m tired after, but because the clinic and the fact that I have to go there at all can be so depressing I need time to decompress from the procedure and return to feeling normal.

The nurse asked me how I was doing and how my symptoms were faring. I laughed, though I didn’t mean to. I just didn’t think he really wanted to hear how I was really doing. I gave him the light version but even then, just hearing ugly description of what my life has been like until now felt distressing and disturbing.

I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to catch up on my half of the responsibilities in the house. I used to hate chores but now going through the house, room to room, organizing and disinfecting is its own kind of medication and salve for both the body and soul. I needed it more than I knew.

Life continues to throw bad news my way, but I’m determined not to let myself get emotionally wrapped up in lives I’m not living. Most of what I stress about isn’t mine to fix or worry over, but I can’t help wanting to make the world right for those I love, and I can’t help blaming myself when I can’t. I’m trying to remember not every problem is mine to fix and not every challenge is mine to face. My role can be supportive, even if all I can do is support you all the way to rock bottom.

Knowing myself, though, the willpower and resolve won’t last. I can’t help who I am at the core, for better or worse, I have to do something. I just hope I choose the right thing. I hope I don’t risk the work and relationships I cherish the most.