Then Pen Is Mightier Than the Pain

Four years. Four hard years of endless doctor visits. Four hard years of medical tests. Four hard years of pain. I have been going through these four hard years with an almost constant pain in my legs. I've been going through four hard years, going from neurologist to orthopedist to neurosurgeon, with no answers. I've been through numerous blood tests, EMGs, EKGs, and nerve conduction studies.

Through these four years of testing, we have went through trial-and-error tests of multiple medicines to the point of potential surgery. I've done physical therapy. Nothing has helped, it has only gotten worse. There are days when my legs are so weak that I can't walk. I have missed so many days of school that they have wanted to take away my credits, from a straight-A student. All of this can drag you down pretty bad sometimes. When you think about all of the medicines you have tried, and all of the doctor's visits, and all of the tests, it can make you feel like there is no where to go. There are people who say that it isn't real, that it isn't possible. There are people who don't believe what isn't on paper. There are people who whisper it, and there are people who say it to your face. Where can you go to get away from this? Where is it possible to get away from chronic pain?
My pen. That is a simple answer, but it is the truth. A little, cheap pen and a piece of paper can take me away from all of the pain and problems. When I am writing, I can lose myself. I can forget everything. It is like I have a special connection with the paper. I may not even consciously know what I am writing until I am halfway down the page, but it takes me away. When I write, I can get into another universe. I don't have any pressure, because if I don't like what is happening, I can change it or throw it away.

I can write wherever. I can write whenever. With me, the chances are that if I have a spare minute, a blank piece of paper, and a writing utensil, there will be a full page written in no time. I have old school notebooks filled with short stories between the class notes and assignments. I love writing because when I am doing it, I am free. I have nothing to worry about. The story isn't going to get mad if I have to stop because my legs are so agitated or because I have to stretch my cramping legs. My writing doesn't care about any of it.

That is what is great about writing. You can stop and start. You can get rid of it if you don't like it. There aren't a lot of things with that versatility. Writing isn't just versatile, but also expressive. Try and think of something expressive. There is visual art. You can't exactly whip out a canvas and pain anywhere. You can do that with a notebook. True, you can carry a sketchbook, but the drawings and lines could get messed up if you were moving (like in a car). Writing can be done anywhere, except underwater. You could, but the ink would run, and the paper would be pretty soggy and unreadable. Other than underwater, you can write just about anywhere. They even make pens that can write in zero gravity.

Writing is something you can pour your heart into without criticism. Your writing won't jump up and start making fun of you. If it does, you might want to talk to a physician immediately. When you throw everything you feel into something, it helps. For you, the emotions are expressed. Generally, when you write with your heart, the writing is better. I don't just mean poems. You can put your heart into stories or narratives or essays. When you put a character behind the text, it is easier to read. It makes the content more real.

For me, I can just let everything go. Not all of my characters are like me. Many of my characters haven't made the same choices I would make. It helps to see things from another angle most of the time, anyway. Sometimes the outcome is better. Sometimes it is worse. Either way, as long as you put real emotions in it, it is believable. When you write from your heart, it is true. Truth and believability are what people look for in stories. People do sometimes want to get away from reality, but they still want to be able to believe what is happening could be real. When you truly craft a story, it is believable. Look at the Harry Potter series. J.K. Rowling created a whole world that common sense and society tells you can't exist. Yet, because of the complexity and the way she writes, and the sometimes brutal truth she infuses, there is that slight "what if" in your mind. It is similar to what Rick Riordan does in his Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. First, he uses original Greek mythology, which people have studies for years. Second, he adds modern elements. Who would think of a manticore using a cell phone? Yet, to think of monsters living in the present day and not using modern technology would be unreal. Why would monsters wait for answers when they could coordinate plans using cell phones? They wouldn't. Riordan makes you believe it. He makes it seem possible that there are hellhounds and explanations to common occurrences because of how solidly he layers his stories, and the fact that he puts real feelings into his characters.

So how is the pen mightier than the pain? As I said before, when I write, I get away from everything. I can just focus on the world my pen is crafting, and I don't have to idly sit by through the times when I am having so much pain I can't sleep or walk. I go into a time when I start writing. I just write. I love the way that stories can make you forget reality. When I write, I become the character. The characters don't become me, I don't make them do what I would do, I have then do what they would do. If I didn't do that, if I just made characters exactly like me, how is it really getting away? It isn't. I do get away. My pen conquers everything I am feeling. I can go anywhere. I can be anything. All I have to do is write.

by Hendrick13 (Viewed 419 times)

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