Jim, thank you. Could you tell me more about what you mean? I am so uncertain about giving anybody advice--everybody's life and circumstances are so different--but I do hope people share the post, on the off-chance that there's someone struggling as I did for so long (and am struggling today, as it turns out--back to bed!).
King also suffers from a chronic illness, alcoholism, and in his period of compulsive creation I see similar attempts to run from and control a life that was increasingly out of his control.
I mean the dude wrote THE SHINING without realizing he was an alcoholic, truly astounding to me how far behind his conscious awareness was. Yes, an addict.
The things that drive us in later years are not the same as what drives us in our 20s. We should be aware of that and open to the changes that come with it. There is nothing wrong -- in fact, it is healthy -- to take stock of who we are and what we want to do.
There have been times when I have wrapped my sense of self-worth into my work. One quote from someone (I forget who) usually sets me back on track: "I am not a WRITER. I am a PERSON who writes."
Thank you Michael for sharing your story. I am a fellow chronically ill human, still figuring out what works and what doesn't since 2015. Self care is critical above all. PS . Laughter is good medicine. AB is fantastic. Gentle hugs. Xx
This piece came to me at just the right moment. I am a fellow chronic gut disease sufferer. And I too believe that my pushing my body too hard when I was younger exacerbated the situation. Very long story short, in two years I went from a relatively healthy middle aged woman to an 85lb lighter middle aged woman with a feeding tube.
Anyway, it feels so validating to read the words of someone else who gets it. So I just upped to a yearly subscription. Thank you.
Eva, I'm really sorry you have to suffer with this. It's awful. But I'm glad the piece connected; that's why I wrote it. Most of us suffer in silence and isolation, which makes it all much worse.
Is anything working for you? For a while pre-Worsley acupuncture I was taking CBD tincture, which helped with appetite and nausea (though it seemed to depress me over time).
Thank you for subscribing! There will be more Gut Follies material, surely :-)
Oh I hope so Ed. My instinct is always to hide it, and I really only do try to bring it out when I feel it would help someone else.
The whole process was so strange and alarming; they really don't know how digestion works, and they certainly never got anywhere close to fixing my microbiome. That happened by degrees, over years. I think the acupuncture arrested my slide, and made me "hospitable" to whatever little beasties I needed to regrow. That's my guess.
As a person who suffers from Psoriasis, which also has a big gut biome tie-in that they are just starting to realize, I can relate. I've tried everything under the sun to control it and for me it was learning what foods are big triggers. Ah, the joy of the human condition. With any luck they figure out that Futurama Head Under Glass option before we're too old and gray.
Thank you for sharing this, Michael. I can't imagine what it must have been like pushing yourself through the Hell of such severe illness. Sadly, we do live in a terribly cruel, able-ist world, where chronic pain or illness absolutely do get you shunned, written off, and ultimately in the worst case scenario, forgotten. I don't want to go into too much detail, so I'll just say that, even though I'm nowhere near death or even an inability to get around or hold a job, this really hit close to home. I don't think I could withstand the pressures of a life in comedy, which was my dream in my early teens. (I've read memoirs and essays by Jay Mohr, Darrell Hammond, Janeane Garofalo and a few others who worked on SNL, and even without chronic illnesses, they went through agony).
I'm glad you've been able to heal and find a way to make a living in humor. I really appreciate the fact that there's a humor magazine as magnificent as American Bystander.
Your advice doesn't apply only to those who are ill. And not only to those in their 20s.
Jim, thank you. Could you tell me more about what you mean? I am so uncertain about giving anybody advice--everybody's life and circumstances are so different--but I do hope people share the post, on the off-chance that there's someone struggling as I did for so long (and am struggling today, as it turns out--back to bed!).
"Life isn't a support system for art. It's the other way around.” ~Stephen King
Oh that's very good.
King also suffers from a chronic illness, alcoholism, and in his period of compulsive creation I see similar attempts to run from and control a life that was increasingly out of his control.
I mean the dude wrote THE SHINING without realizing he was an alcoholic, truly astounding to me how far behind his conscious awareness was. Yes, an addict.
Love Kubrick, watched that movie ONCE. (Child of alcoholic.)
The things that drive us in later years are not the same as what drives us in our 20s. We should be aware of that and open to the changes that come with it. There is nothing wrong -- in fact, it is healthy -- to take stock of who we are and what we want to do.
There have been times when I have wrapped my sense of self-worth into my work. One quote from someone (I forget who) usually sets me back on track: "I am not a WRITER. I am a PERSON who writes."
Thank you Michael for sharing your story. I am a fellow chronically ill human, still figuring out what works and what doesn't since 2015. Self care is critical above all. PS . Laughter is good medicine. AB is fantastic. Gentle hugs. Xx
Francie, I'm very sorry to hear that you can relate, but happy that what I do gives you a bit of pleasure! That is indeed why I do it.
May you crack your code completely! :-)
This piece came to me at just the right moment. I am a fellow chronic gut disease sufferer. And I too believe that my pushing my body too hard when I was younger exacerbated the situation. Very long story short, in two years I went from a relatively healthy middle aged woman to an 85lb lighter middle aged woman with a feeding tube.
Anyway, it feels so validating to read the words of someone else who gets it. So I just upped to a yearly subscription. Thank you.
Eva, I'm really sorry you have to suffer with this. It's awful. But I'm glad the piece connected; that's why I wrote it. Most of us suffer in silence and isolation, which makes it all much worse.
Is anything working for you? For a while pre-Worsley acupuncture I was taking CBD tincture, which helped with appetite and nausea (though it seemed to depress me over time).
Thank you for subscribing! There will be more Gut Follies material, surely :-)
Solid use of ChatGPT in this.
It's just so helpful John
How'd you use it here?
John was joking
Thanks for writing this Mike. This is inspiring in so many ways.
Oh I hope so Ed. My instinct is always to hide it, and I really only do try to bring it out when I feel it would help someone else.
The whole process was so strange and alarming; they really don't know how digestion works, and they certainly never got anywhere close to fixing my microbiome. That happened by degrees, over years. I think the acupuncture arrested my slide, and made me "hospitable" to whatever little beasties I needed to regrow. That's my guess.
As a person who suffers from Psoriasis, which also has a big gut biome tie-in that they are just starting to realize, I can relate. I've tried everything under the sun to control it and for me it was learning what foods are big triggers. Ah, the joy of the human condition. With any luck they figure out that Futurama Head Under Glass option before we're too old and gray.
Just so you know: if it gets really unruly, the Chinese stuff I do might very well bring it to heel. STRONGLY anti-inflammatory.
Comedy + Illness = My new song called: I Found A Pill - For Just Every Ill.
Thank you for sharing this, Michael. I can't imagine what it must have been like pushing yourself through the Hell of such severe illness. Sadly, we do live in a terribly cruel, able-ist world, where chronic pain or illness absolutely do get you shunned, written off, and ultimately in the worst case scenario, forgotten. I don't want to go into too much detail, so I'll just say that, even though I'm nowhere near death or even an inability to get around or hold a job, this really hit close to home. I don't think I could withstand the pressures of a life in comedy, which was my dream in my early teens. (I've read memoirs and essays by Jay Mohr, Darrell Hammond, Janeane Garofalo and a few others who worked on SNL, and even without chronic illnesses, they went through agony).
I'm glad you've been able to heal and find a way to make a living in humor. I really appreciate the fact that there's a humor magazine as magnificent as American Bystander.