Heroes Not Zombies

This tree has one of the most dramatic and startling shapes I’ve ever seen. You can tell that at some point as it was climbing straight upwards like all the other trees, then it almost broke in two, but survived and carried on growing horizontally for a bit.

I’ve often looked at this image and thought of how illness can impact our lives. One of the most useful questions I’d ask patients who were suffering from long term conditions was “When were you last completely well?” That would lead to an exploration of life events and the evolution of a particular illness.

Thinking that way isn’t a simplistic cause and effect approach. It’s about clarifying what usually turns out to be a number of factors and events which have made an impact.

The big events in our lives, births, deaths, beginnings and endings of relationships, jobs, moving house and so on, change us. They don’t just make an impact, because we adapt and carry on. But in our hearts, in our souls, and even in our bodies, we are changed by the events and relationships in our lives. Traumas don’t “go away” but, at best we adapt and continue off along a different road.