Why Sickle Cell Sufferers Are Creative People And How It Can Help
The featured image above is from a project called Sickle Cell Warrior by Annabel Anzy, another Sickle Cell sufferer. Follow her for updates on the project and more info on Sickle Cell.
As I connect with more Sickle Cell sufferers, a common trait I find among us is that we’re all creative people. Many of us are talented, with one or more unique skills. I want to explore my theory on why I believe this is the case and how we can use this to our advantage.
Sickle Cell leads to a lonely life
Whether you live with family or friends or even other sufferers, the fact is that as sufferers we will often feel alone in our suffering. The Sickle Cell pain lives inside us our whole lives and normal healthy people are incapable of understanding what our pain feels like. This means that it’s difficult for others to relate to us, and in many cases it may even be difficult for us sufferers to relate to those who live what’s perceived as a normal life.
So we go through our lives feeling completely alienated. And when you feel like a different species than everyone else, it’s natural that you’ll begin to live inside your own mind.
I spent years of my life daydreaming. Daydreaming because my fantasies took me away from the harsh realities that I faced every day. I often daydreamed of a perfect version of myself that was able to succeed in all the things I couldn’t in my real life.
And after around twenty five years of suffering and daydreaming, I started having my first ideas of how I could put my deep imagination to good use. That would be the beginnings of me becoming a writer.
It’s those years of suffering in silence give a Sickle Cell warrior a deep layer of creative thinking.
We develop more internal understanding as Sickle Cell sufferers
Sickle Cell sufferers are trained to learn the inner workings of their mind and body. We have to be aware of our triggers. We’re aware of every sensation and every stir inside of our body because we’ve spent our lives feeling internal torture.
When you have this level of self-awareness over your mind and body, you unlock a layer of understanding that will allow you to harness the creative thinking that artists and entrepreneurs have mastered.
Some people use meditation to build up the same level of internal understanding, but it’s something we’re naturally accustomed to.
By the way, it’s still a good thing for sufferers to practice meditation also as it can only boost our inner-understanding. And it will give us other benefits that may help with our pain tolerance.
We need a distraction from the pain and suffering
There are times when the pain might not be bad enough for us to remain bed-ridden, but it’s throbbing at a level were it’s frustrating for us to put up with. At these moments, I embrace my inner creativity and use it as a means to distract myself from the torment.
These are the times where I journal, draw, write or create things. There are times when I paint with watercolors. There are times when I write stories, songs or blog posts. There are times when I take online courses to pick up new skills. And it’s all because I find it therapeutic having an activity to both take your mind away from the pain and advance your personal value at the same time.
When you indulge in these creative activities, you’re also gathering experience that may help you use these same skills to land a perfect gig in the future. And this brings me to my next point.
How our creative skills can benefit us
Lately I’ve been in touch with a few other Sickle Cell sufferers, and we all have had the same difficult experiences with regards to jobs. Colleagues, supervisors or bosses lack the understanding about our condition, and when you consider that we become more prone to chronic pain and fatigue as we get older, it presents a big challenge for us in the workplace.
In my 20s I was able to commute back and forth to work no problem. But in my 30s this is something I can no longer do every day without feeling completely shattered. And that’s not even including all of the friends that want to meet up and engage in fun activities after work or on the weekends.
When you’re a sufferer stuck in this work loop, it can be detrimental to your health over time. The weight of everything was enough to send me to hospital for the worse crisis of my life.
And that’s why I think the best options for Sickle Cell sufferers are to:
- Find a job that’s right around the corner from where you live.
- Find a job where you can work from home some or most days.
- My favourite… work for yourself!
If you learn to harness your creativity as a Sickle Cell sufferer then you’ll be able to use your creative skills as a means to build a better career for yourself. One where you wont eventually send yourself to the hospital.
So never let go of that inner creative. Keep building on those skills that you’re passionate about. Because one day you’ll need to lean on them to stay on your feet.
