An Image of Autoimmune Disease

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I was shopping with a friend the other day. I told her that in spite of a season - long search, I never found a new swimming suit for the summer, which reminded us both of the Miracle Suit incident.

After we finished guffawing and moved to a different department of the store since people were staring, she said,

"You really should have posted a picture on your blog."

Are you kidding me?? Seriously??

"Well, I mean, it's not like it was a big secret. You sent a post out into the blogosphere universe detailing the whole thing."

Well, she's right. I did.

I want to state categorically here, however - there will never ever be a picture of me in a Miracle Suit or any other swimming suit type apparel posted on any blog that I will ever write. Oh, sure, some would say that an image conjured up in the imagination would be much worse than what the picture actually would look like.

In this case, that could not possibly be true. Trust me.

What is true, however, is that I thoroughly enjoyed writing that post, and any post which includes an opportunity to find levity in weird situations. When I write about difficult challenges and strange encounters, I have an opportunity to look back at the event and dissect it. I can see things from several perspectives when given the opportunity to muse about problems as I write. I can usually tease out some evidence from those weird situations that proves that more often than not things aren't as bad as they seem. Sometimes they are actually downright funny.

I wonder if others feel the same way: that by putting one's thoughts and observations and opinions out there for the whole world to see, that actual photographic evidence is unnecessary. That we, as those willing to laugh at the world and our disease and ourselves, have created an image that doesn't need lines or colors or dimensions. And hopefully readers will see in that image a part of themselves.

(Wait, I don't mean that we all need to squeeze ourselves into Miracle Suits. Oh my. Even I don't want to imagine that one.....)

But I do see anyone battling with an autoimmune disease, or any other disease for that matter, as part of an important family of people who need to share a common mental image of ourselves - as people who can laugh and find pleasure in life - even in an autoimmune diseased body.