10 comments


  • Jan Priddy

    You ask how someone gets back to writing after a crisis. My crises have been only selfish and mild, so I am not wise in these things, but after a blank wall for a year or more, I did something easy. Like lying to myself about going for a “short” walk—I will just go to the edge of the road and come home. Then when I get to that edge, I decide to walk a bit further into the forest. Oh. And not thinking if I should or can or want to, because you know I want to. I give myself permission to want.

    May 12, 2016
  • Jan Priddy

    ooo&xxx’s!

    May 12, 2016
  • Kate

    I had no idea you were going through all this. Good news, at least, better news.

    You are doing everything right. Keep up with the smiles at nature and breaths of spring, breathing in life, exhaling stress.

    Life Goes On

    May 12, 2016
  • Ivy

    That’s great news, Jeannine! Long may the temporary state last.

    After disruption, reading novels (graphic novels, audiobooks) helps me return to normalcy. Then I can level up to maybe looking at an email or two, or writing down the various steps to a big task and crossing off the easy ones first. It may even be something as simple as looking at recent poems and thinking about which journals might like them.

    Wishing you a gentle adjustment period! xx

    May 12, 2016
  • Alison H.

    Keep doing what you’re doing, Jeannine, that’s all good stuff. And Reiki, reiki, reiki. I’ve never had a regular writing life, so no advice there. I just ride the waves of family care and activities, music, dance, Reiki circle and practice, go through periods of writing and not writing, though I am getting religious about keeping a journal. Things do come out of that. Your blog may serve the same purpose. I still occasionally get bouts of rage at the mechanistic system of health care and insurance companies….but now I have alternatives. I think docs are good for putting people back together when they are broken but I don’t see what good pumping radiation or poison or cutting organs out of people does. I would trust a good medical intuitive and energy healers over diagnostic tests or these treatments anytime, but that’s just me and my experience and reading. And we can integrate different modalities if we feel the need. Yes, everything is temporary, we are all mortal, and there are no guarantees….but in the face of that, look at what you have already accomplished and give yourself a bunch of pats on the back. You’ve worked hard at your writing and getting it out into the world, and you have a lovely supportive husband. All the medical angst has got to be good for something–but I’m just not sure what! Probably helping other people not feel so alone in their own struggles….

    May 12, 2016
  • Jeannine Gailey

    Thanks for all your good advice and good wishes. They really help!

    May 12, 2016
  • So glad the scariest diagnosis is off the table! For what it’s worth, I’d say establishing routines can move you forward, even if at first you’re not so productive. Commitment for a morning walk, for instance, then two hours of work, then break, then two more hours… I’m having trouble motivating myself to do submissions, too, and when nothing’s happening, I just read poetry books and magazines, figuring that prepares me to submit, in a way.

    May 13, 2016
  • This is great news! You have been in my thoughts every day! Here’s hoping the great news (and nice weather) will help you find your writer’s mojo again….

    May 13, 2016
  • Tom

    Remember your own advice: “why does this matter?”
    After surviving my ambulance ride, few things bother me and only important items take my attention. Do what you love. Humility empowers great writing.

    May 13, 2016
  • Nola Garrett

    Three years ago, I was diagnosed with primary biliary cholangitis, a rare auto-immune disease that affects the liver. I couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t write poetry. The break through came when Mike Simms of Autumn House Press asked me to write a blog for coalhillreview.com. I found that at least I could write prose. It was my turning point.

    May 13, 2016

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