Embracing My Flawless Imperfections — Even With Chronic Illness
Originally published in Yahoo Entertainment & The Mighty — January 2018
The word of the day today is flawless.
It’s written on my t-shirt, and frankly, it’s a good reminder for me to live in the body I have right now at this present moment. But holy cow can that be complicated when living with chronic illness!
The idea of being flawless is a paradox. To look at a tree is to notice all of its imperfections, and yet as God’s creation is perfect in every way. I’m reminded of Lady Gaga’s lyrics… “I’m beautiful in my way ’cause God makes no mistakes, I’m on the right track baby I was born this way.”
So here I am today in the space between… I want to be healed! I have come so far! But I still have a long way to go, and I recognize that it could be so much worse.
This is what we call a liminal space…
…or the ambiguous space of waiting. Living a life after a traumatic brain injury, with migraines, post-concussive syndrome, pituitary problems, adrenal insufficiency, lambert eaton myesthenic syndrome, dysautonomia, immune deficiency, and other rare diagnoses, liminality is a part of my existence.
