Sickness & Flowers

‘Tis healthy to be sick sometimes.

– Henry David Thoreau

Indeed. But healthy or not, being sick still sucks. 

How are you holding up these days? Are you back in the September swing of things? Did you have a good summer? Hope so!

I had a wonderful summer…hiking, swimming, going to the beach, jumping in mountain streams, enjoying my garden, visiting peeps, writing & reading.

I was full ‘o beans, energy-wise!

Then I went to Mexico (Cancun) for a friend’s wedding in early September and, two days in, I caught The Bug of All Bugs and Happy Vacation Me morphed into Sickly Sleeping Me.

Whatever virus I caught (I tested negative for Covid) took its sweet time working it’s way through my system and manifested in my body in all sorts of weird & wonky ways…relentless cough, fever, sore throat, exhaustion, pink eye, thrush, no taste, no smell, no voice, no hearing in one ear. Ugh!

Two weeks later, however, I am definitely on the mend. Yay!

Apparently, getting sick is a sign of health.

“A strong, healthy body is responsive,” says Clinical Nutritionist, Sharon Browne. “When you experience a cough, a runny nose, achiness, or a fever, these are signs that your body has detected a pathogenic (harmful) invader and it is responding. Each of these is a mechanism that your body has evolved to fight infection. For example, a sneeze is the body’s way of expelling, or, pushing out, an irritant.”

Browne goes on to say that a person with a healthy, responsive immune system will typically get sick 1-2 times per year.

“Getting sick makes you stronger,” explains Browne. “Every time you get sick and support your body with the right nutrients to heal, you strengthen your immune system and help train it, in a way, so that the next time it encounters that pathogen, it can fight it off before it gets you down.”

Okay, so that’s some good news re the physical benefits of getting sick.

But I gotta admit there are other benefits, too. Being knocked flat on my back (or propped upright in a chair in an attempt to ease the relentless cough) for two weeks gave me plenty of time to think and reflect on what is working well in my life…and what could probably use a tweak or two, when I was back up to operating at full capacity again.

In other words, being so sick felt rather like a…system reset. 

And on the subject of gratitude, another thing I am very grateful for is my lovely garden in Qualicum Beach 🙂

Here are a few flower photos from this summer…enjoy! 

“Every flower blooms in its own time.”

– Ken Petti

And maybe, just maybe, sometimes we get sick in order for our body to have the deep rest it needs…before the next big bloom in our lives 🙂

Take care & enjoy the rest of September! I will be writing on the Oregon Coast next week…staying a few days at my all-time favourite cozy cottage in Florence!

Maryanne Pope is the author of “A Widow’s Awakening.” She also writes screenplays, playscripts and blogs. She is the CEO of Pink Gazelle Productions and a co-founder of the John Petropoulos Memorial Fund. To receive Maryanne’s blog, “Weekly Words of Wisdom,” please subscribe here.