What Moving Teaches

Moving can be one of the most stress events of life, especially when moving away from social support or to a new unfamiliar city or state. Moving to a new home teaches us that disorientation is part of the process, and that lesson can be carried into life with chronic illness. When we first step into unfamiliar rooms, noticing where the light falls, where the floors creak, where we might place the chair that helps us rest. We accept that it takes time before the space feels like ours. This is the Hebian principle, which is neurons that fire together are wired together, in other words, your brain knows what it practices. Chronic illness provides a new world after the illusion of health has changed and sometimes, each new day brings a new world for us to adjust to as we gather ourselves getting out of bed. The illness will ask us to learn the layout of our changing body, to recognize which activities drain us and which restore us, to arrange our days with intention and care. Unpacking happens box by box, just as adaptation happens moment by moment. We discover that comfort is created through small repeated acts of attention. Over time, what once felt foreign can begin to feel livable, not because everything is easy, but because we have learned how to inhabit a new reality. As you adjust to this new reality, don’t hesitate to ask for assistance, as there are many others in this world sharing this same struggle to adapt to a new way of being from illness inhabiting our story.

Dr. Jeffrey Bone