Living with long covid is a journey of emotional ups and downs. Here are two examples:
The Light
11th March 2024
This was the second doodle that I was able to do. Playing with 3 bright, light colours, reflecting the fact that I was able to get up, go downstairs, sit on the sofa and draw. Finding joy in the process. I set a timer for 10 mins to make sure I didn’t overdo it, then rested lying down before doing a bit more. It’s only small, but because I could only work on it for 10 minutes at a time it took 3 days to finish.
The Dark
13th January 2024.
Still pretty much bedbound. I wrote in my diary
‘Just getting worse, not better. This illness just takes and takes, life shrinks, joy is leached away’.
Followed by:
Again and again
I hit rock bottom,
only to find
the ground gives way
and I
keep
falling.
Immediately after I wrote this I felt emotional, and then I felt a bit better. I realised it was only half the story, so I wrote another verse.
Again and again
I hit rock bottom,
only to find
the ground gives way
and I
keep
falling.And yet
each time I fall,
something tenacious in me
reaches out,
takes my hand,
eases me gently
back
towards
the light.