Poisoned By The Oak

I used to think poison oak was a tale, something that happened to other people. Until a few weeks ago. I decided I would take a week or two off and use the time to myself to recharge, replenish, rethink and generally plan my life. I can never spend enough time with my ridiculous mind and my OCD planning process. If I have an actual happy place it is lost in my dreams of magical adventures and then putting pen to paper and dissecting those images into tangible steps. I could do this forever. I could create infinite experiences if I just had more time. Recently I spent some time scrambling up very steep terrain and felt very accomplished for such activity, a real adventure of sorts. A few days later I saw large red patches taking over my arms and legs. I had in fact crawled through the poison oak on that hillside. I had the rash and it was awful, and of course it happened to me during my time off. To make matters worse I also found myself sick with some severe cold and a huge dose of allergies. Needless to say it was a rough go…what was supposed to be a starry eyed two weeks of wishful thinking turned into a two week long pity party where I tried my best to breathe, not scratch, not cry…keep calm and carry on…and so I did…the end.

Here we are several weeks post poisoned life and the rash is gone, the cold is resolved, my lungs are healed, the sun is shining, the animals are well, and I survived what felt insurmountable. The older I grow the more I surprise myself with what I can handle. Sometimes it is hard to remember but the very fact that we wake up is really a gift and everything else is just coloring our world. Personally I like bright colors, and the goats paint my world a brilliant kaleidoscope. I hope your world is vivid and filled with all your favorite shades, whether dark or light :)