What if...
Last week we visited the question: Would you give up everything you’ve learned from adversity in order to erase the event from your storyline?
And if you didn’t get a chance to read the responses, you’re in for a treat. Thank you to all who responded to the prompt with such intimate, powerful reflections. Maurice Clive Bisby summed it up beautifully:
First let me say that I spend a lot of time reading comments on Substack posts, just sometimes do I chip in my two pennyworth. This time I am moved by everything posted here... Been there experienced that, grieved, examined, learned. I am moved and I thank you all. I was who I was, I could and should have done some things differently, yet without them I would not be who I am now, or what I am yet to become.
This week, you can hear a group of diverse individuals explore this question in relationship to chronic or terminal illness and disability.
Buckle up. This one stopped and resuscitated my heart at least a dozen times.
Are you new to Unfixed? Or have you missed previous chapters? You can access them all for free with the link below. I recommend starting from the beginning.
Kathryn Vercillo asked me a similar question when she interviewed me for her “Create Me Free” newsletter: “If you could magically have lived your life without ever experiencing depression, would you? How do you think that would have impacted your trajectory as a writer?” This was my answer:
“As miserable as depression has made me throughout my life, if I could magically erase my long history of living with it I don’t think I would. My experiences of depression have inspired some of my best writing and enabled me to help others who live with it.
My most severe bout of depression in 2021 almost killed me but also made me desperate enough to take the risks necessary to move toward the life I want. It forced me to see that my society’s definition of a good life is not the same as mine. It led me to start living a more authentic and creative life based on my definition instead of society’s.”
Anyone interested in the full interview can read it (and lots of other great content) in Kathryn’s newsletter or mine (“Changing Lives,” wendigordon.substack.com).
You definitely feel this in your body and heart when you are watching people provide their response. Dylan. He gets me every time. His thoughtfulness with his answer(s) was so honest and raw. "Yes, of course I would..." "Would I give up my soul...no."
When I pondered this question last week, I found it hard to say one or the other. As some said, depending on the day. For me, it would be a yes and a no. Kind of like what Dylan shared. So many deep honest responses to a really thoughful question. Not easy to answer sometimes.