I’m a Failure
150 Days of Winter… a 100 Day Project. The failure of a photo journal project by artist Taryn Okesson.
Sometime in the fresh days of January I went out after a warm sticky snowfall for a walk. Since our winter was barren, I was excited for that snow. I stopped to get a landscape photo along one of the small lakes here, then while standing there, my feet flew out from under me. I hit hard, directly on my hip, on a mound of frozen earth. I felt my body crunch. During the incident I kept my camera safe and since I was facing the right direction I snapped my photograph from that low perspective. You can see it in the above photos. I think it’s lovely
I expected to have trouble getting up, but I was fine. I expected the pain to hit soon after, it didn’t.
Instead what happened was a day by day incremental decline into a personal hell.
I tried multiple different seating arrangements. I tried exercises and supplements. I tried bed rest. I tried powering through. I tried Gatorade for electrolytes. I held my breath and took a dropper of flavorless CBD. I was living for hot baths, about the only relief I could get.
By the time I gave in and made a doctor’s appointment I wasn’t able to be up for more than two hours a day. I was already having chronic issues for years, this was worse. It was like my body was forgetting how to operate.
It was, I’m now a proud owner of a woman’s middle-age body and the muscles do forget their jobs. Exciting stuff. My new favorite thing is a neon-green 10 lb kettle ball and some ridiculously simple exercises. I also acquired a degenerative disc thanks in part to the types of jobs I did over my lifetime. (Heavy lifting, bad). And some mild anemia. To be fair to my iron levels, I think the anemia was/is baseline normal for me, considering my symptoms.
In short, I failed to finish my winter project. But now I’m out walking around full of iron (plus every other supplement to be honest) and feeling ok. I think I need to pick back up sharing photos here, if less formal than a project▪️
These photos are evocative! Your Black and white winter snow makes me shiver …and the bunny brings spring back! As your journey has and will.🌹🌈
My back isn't great after a previous job. It was never as bad as your experience. It sounds like things have improved--which is good.