To Adapt, Or Not To Adapt, That is the Question:

I know not everyone is a Shakespeare fan, but bear with me for a moment.

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die—to sleep,
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to: ’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep;
To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there’s the rub:
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause—there’s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th’oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,
The pangs of dispriz’d love, the law’s delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of th’unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovere’d country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience doth make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action.

Hamlet, spoken by Hamlet

While Hamlet is speaking of a more permanent death, what I’m going to write on today is a smaller kind of death that is related to that of significant change that is not always something we choose to take on. The tiny deaths that happen every time a new part of us gives out and forces us to adapt our way of life.

For me, I’ve recently been facing this with my ability to create art. While I write in my spare time, I live for my art. It’s partly how I manage having EDS and its various complications. It’s how I grieve. It’s how I process some of my psychological trauma. It’s how I distract myself when pain is constant. It’s how I show love. It’s how I survive. I do so many different types of art that I can’t keep track anymore.

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And now, EDS threatens again to take it from me. I faced this before just a few years ago. The connective tissue in my hands have always been extremely hypermobile, but my left hand had suddenly developed exceptional pain in my thumb. I couldn’t knead clay. I couldn’t bead. I couldn’t even wash my hair efficiently. Thankfully, I had just started seeing a rheumatologist that was a bulldog against my insurance and got me a full set of swan necks and a thumb plate for my MCP joint that started to fully dislocate with minimal effort.

I wrote a full other post about my ring splints to talk about it before, but it was done long after the period of adaptation. I was able to type without taking breaks to cry and scream how I hated the feeling. I had already started beading with regularity at that point, rather than throwing a piece only a few rows in because I couldn’t get the needle to do what I wanted. I was writing almost with the elegance I expected of myself, not the chicken scratch that I fought to get out with the new splints. I did this intentionally because I wanted to show that it’s totally worth it! It was worth all the screaming and crying over the difficulties and discomfort.

But, now I’m facing it again. My right hand…..my dominant hand….has betrayed me. The MCP freely dislocates and is constantly in significant pain. My hand that holds the paintbrushes. The hand that writes. The hand that holds the carving tools. That hand is now unable to hold anything without shooting pain.

The hurdle at hand (mind the pun) is whether I want to put in the effort to adapt yet again. It may seem to the reader, that this is an obvious thing. If art is life, then of course I would choose to adapt! While, yes, I’ve ordered a thumb splint…I assure you that it was not an easy decision or a simple and pleasant experience to decide this. It’s the turmoil of facing such a thing that I wanted to shine a light on.

The first aspect of this is the gut punch that is yet another failure of the body caused by Ehlers-Danlos. I’m angry. I’m short tempered. I’m heartbroken. I’m grieving. Whether or not I adapt, there’s a grieving process that comes with the small death of yet another thing I’ve gotten comfortable with having in my life that will cause significant change no matter what I choose to do. It happens with everybody and every body. Most experience it with old age, but some of us experience it younger than we ever should for various reasons. This only adds to the rage and grief. Angry at people who get to experience a full life of enjoying things they love without such challenges. Angry at people that have their mobility and abilities cut short from their own obvious poor choices because it feels like they’re reckless as a toddler. Angry at people with acute and curable hurdles because they can go back to normal. All of this is a lot of anger to process. I’m grateful to my sister, and I’ll take a moment to push her books by saying you should look up Kahaula on Amazon, for all of her help during this time to keep me grounded as well as helping with a safe space to scream without judgement.

As the grieving is processing, there’s the decision of whether to adapt or to let go. To be, or not to be, if we go back to the quote I used above. Because each option carries with it emotional baggage. Neither is the right answer or the wrong answer. They just are. And this is something of a problem in the chronic illness community as well. The overwhelming battle between saying “you’re not your productivity” while pushing “but don’t give up on things you like to do” to anyone facing such a problem. It’s a bit hypocritical and I don’t think we acknowledge that quite enough.

It’s not as simple as forcing yourself to be cheerful and pushing onward. It’s evaluating your own mental health and deciding what’s best for you in the long run. Because sometimes, giving up something you love, is actually healthier than trying to force yourself into adaptations because you are pressured into not giving up. Only you can make that decision for yourself, and that’s important. This is also a great point to mention that a therapist can be an important sounding board for such things.

For example, with my art, I know the new splint isn’t going to be comfortable, no matter how skilled the splint maker is and how perfect it fits. I know it took me several months to stop shaking my hands to stim from the discomfort last time. I know I’m going to absolutely hate the process of adapting because it’s learning skills all over again. It’s not a pretty process. It’s not like the inspirational video posts you see where someone disabled just tried hard, had a few frustrated moments, but pushed past it with joy and everyone was celebrating YAY! It’s trying.

The other side of this is knowing that it’s uncertain how long any adaptations I get used to will actually last. I **JUST** got back to painting my feathers even semi-regularly. Right after I fully adapt, I’ve got to go through the cycle **AGAIN**. It’s one more thing on top of the never ending accumulating mountain of things I’ve got to manage with this damned disorder and the constant malfunctions it causes.

It would be easier to just let it go. It would be less stress on me and my slowly falling apart hand. It would be less stress on those around me as I go through the emotional turmoil of the process to adapt. It would be more certain than trying only to possibly be let down as soon as I fine tune my adaptation. After all, I’m not my productivity. I’m not less if I come to the point that I can’t do my art. I’ll be sad, and I’ll grieve, and I’ll be angry…but I’ll eventually put my energy toward something else to keep my heart and soul occupied.

Is trying to keep doing art only speeding the decline of my hands? Am I creating a path to permanent disability that’s paved with dried paint and wood shavings? Could I extend the life of my hands by giving up most of my art? And could I live with myself if that’s what I chose to do?

There isn’t a right answer, only what’s right for me. Just as when you face your own hurdles, there’s only what’s right for you. I took a long time contemplating all the angles before deciding what was in my best interest. I can’t see surviving without my art at this stage in my life. As soon as I came to be aware of that, I made arrangements to order a splint to suit my failed MCP joint. And I’ll take all the rage and spite and fury and channel it into moving forward

I’ll cry and scream and probably throw a few innocent paint brushes. I’ll judge myself much too harshly for not adapting faster and producing the quality I expect from myself. I’ll get angry at the loved ones that remind me to be kind to myself on this journey. I’ll curse the gods and the body I’m in. I’ll do this all in spite of how much I’ll try not to. I’ll mask the myriad of emotions like the ocean hides Her rip currents until the wave becomes too much and crashes over. And I will do all of this not because I want to be an inspiration for everyone to push through and adapt no matter what. I will do this for one reason, and one reason only.

Because it’s what I’ve decided was important to ME.

Not to family that wants to see me continue. Not to people who want to commission me. Not to doctors that have their opinions on both sides. Not to people I work with that think I can adapt to almost anything. Not to my partners that both know what being able to create means to me. Not for other people to utilize for their own motivational needs.

For me.

That is what I want you to get out of this. Adapting is fucking difficult. It’s not a Hallmark movie with one sad day and a perpetual cheer squad. It’s horrible and I refuse to sugar coat it. It has potential for amazing things and I know that I’ll also cry tears of joy when I’m able to paint to my own standards again. I know the pieces I create out of all that anger and spite will be incredibly emotional statements that I can look back on. For now, it’s worth all of the struggles I’ll face in order to get there. While that makes it easier…it doesn’t make it EASY…and that is a significant differentiation.

It also brings me a great comfort that when I choose to let my artistic side rest for good, that it will be on my own terms and my own choice. I’ll know that I tried, and I know that I did everything I possibly could to extend the ability of my hands by doing things like wearing protective gear and mobility splints. So when that time does come? I don’t think I’ll ever be ready, but I’ll know it’s time. I won’t be a failure because I’m not somehow pushing through to find a way, just like I wouldn’t be failing if that was my choice right now. I’ll have the same comfort then, as I do now.

That the choice I made was mine, and for me alone.

I wish all of you the strength to make all of those hard choices that EDS, or any other hurdle, forces you to face for you, and you alone. Wishing it won’t hurt is futile, so instead, I’ll just wish you find peace in it and live your best life.