Art Provoked Thoughts (Health Activist Writer's Challenge Month)- Day 12

Image from ReCareered

Day 12: Ekphrasis (writing about another art form). An ekphrasis gives life to a piece of art through storytelling. An example of an ekphrasis is when an artist paints a picture of a sculpture or a poet writes about a painting or even, I’d argue, when a songwriter sings about a movie. The person making the ekphrasis creates an entirely new story and goes “behind the scenes” to describe an aspect that the original art might be missing. An ekphrasis in writing can be completely made-up fiction or it can explain the visual details of the original art piece. Today’s prompt is to create an artistic blog post inspired by someone else’s visual art. 

I see myself as a patient who "breaks the rules." Long past are the days that I would leave my health in the hands of my doctor. These days I find myself speaking out, doing research, and demanding to have my rights respected. Can you honestly say you trust that your doctor will see you as a name and not a number?

Has any of your doctors suggested a non-medicated solution on your bumpy road with chronic illness? Surprisingly I've had just one do exactly that. My nephrologist (kidney doctor) told me to try to make it to church, and to also attempt a meditation class to help me relieve stress and pain from lupus and fibromyalgia. (Surprise! I've been diagnosed with that as well.) 

Besides his suggestions I began digging into the aspects of my diet. Just about everything I eat is processed, comes in a box, package, or container. The first ingredients were usually sugar or corn syrup, and I rarely ate anything fresh from the produce aisle. 

I must say this journey of research, exploration, and trial/error has shown me a new way of living. It's time to break the rules and take matter in our own hands. I'm learning to retrain my taste-buds into eating healthier. Researching the nutritional benefits of different fruits and vegetables is revealing so much. 

If eating healthier and removing the toxic processed foods will help reduce pain and inflammation in our bodies would you do it? Would you stay committed and take charge of your health? I'm learning how tough this challenge can be, but also realizing if I want to LIVE I better learn to start breaking the rules!

learning & loving, 

Tiffany xoxo