As I enter my eighth year of chronic pain from untreatable daily migraines, I've come to wonder how it affects my ability to be creative and spiritually present in my life. Distraction is often my only defense. This may be an asset for my imagination--even when I'm too miserable to write, I can let my mind wander into fictional alternatives. But pain makes the more pleasant realities of my daily life elusive. It also can lead to separation from spiritual disciplines and the people I love.
I guess it's a Catch-22. There is a territory that I inhabit, somewhere between my often-painful physical surroundings and the landscape of imagination. I suppose everyone has such a place, rarely described but very useful in dealing with life's less pleasant moments.
So, what's the landscape in your imaginative world?
