A new chapter, turning over a new leaf, rising from the ashes, rebirth, starting over; the sheer number of maxims boggles the mind. The facts are usually the same. Person has a setback, person begins life with a new purpose. I might argue this is one of the most basic facts of life. It smacks of redemption, courage and strength. There are many levels of this type of renewal. From “tomorrow I’m going to start to get to work on time” to “I’m going to recover from cancer and live my life differently”, we all understand the concept, just as we realize the difference in magnitude.
For me, my own personal rebirth begins with “the good news is I’m nearly well from Lyme disease” and “the bad news is I’m nearly well from Lyme disease.” How could getting well be bad news? Let’s look at the word “nearly.” Being nearly well means I can’t quite begin a new life, but I have to try anyway. “Nearly” means I will fail often because I will try to do either too much or not enough. “Nearly” means still picking and choosing where to put my energy, and getting it all wrong. “Nearly” means napping almost every day, not because I want to, but because I have to. “Nearly” means doing work that is not challenging just in case I have bad days where my brain isn’t functioning.
There is no other solution than to carry on. I make modest daily goals in hopes that one day, I will be well. On good days, I get everything accomplished and feel like perhaps I’m getting my life back. On bad days, I have to decide what to let go and find a way to be happy about it.
I’m still trying to figure out how to explain that I’m mostly well. There are days when I think, “I’ve got this.” Where I make a new Plan A. Those are the days I forget I have Lyme (Had? Another thing about “nearly”—is it “have Lyme,” or “had Lyme?”). Other days, I am overwhelmed to the point of giving up. That’s when I think about selling the house, moving into an RV, and disappearing.
On one of those good stretches, I decided to redesign my web page. After all, I am no longer “finding joy while living with Lyme,” the old tagline. Surprisingly, figuring out a new tagline and a picture to represent “Life After Lyme” was harder than the nuts and bolts of redesign, or writing this post. Because, who the fuck am I now? I was already changing when I got sick. I should view Lyme as a delay, but that wouldn’t be correct. Lyme changed me. It changed my priorities and what I want for the rest of my life.
It took a discussion with Katie to figure out what best represented my life. The tick isn’t gone. The tick will never be gone. It is crystallized forever inside me, slowly fracturing into a million pieces as I struggle to become whole again. After we figured that part out, the tagline became easy. I don’t think bumbling is too harsh a word. I am bumbling, because I am still changing. Maybe that’s what “nearly” is.
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