Category: #Ankylosing-Spondylitis

MENTAL NOTE #144, FRUSTRATIONS!

May 1, 2021

MENTAL NOTE #144: FRUSTRATIONS WITH ART SITES THAT SOUND ‘GREAT’, BUT ARE A NIGHTMARE TO NAVIGATE!

You know what I mean? Have you been there, done that? I have.

You spend your PRECIOUS TIME reading their terms, what benefits they promise member artists, and all of that jazz.

So….Being All excited, you sign up. Everything is good — no hiccups. GREAT! You can’t wait to upload your artwork and start earning mucho dinero like never before. RIGHT!

Then, you get to the point where you need to start uploading your art images. AND THAT’S WHEN THE NIGHTMARE BEGINS! FRUSTRATIONS START!

AFTER your 10th Cup of Coffee, and two hours have been lost from your “LIFE-CLOCK”, and your 101st “Mutha-fuûcķ’a!” You say, “Screw THIS!” (Or the expletive of your choice)

I’m not sure about you, but this happens to me, A LOT! (Or, sometimes….I wanted to be dramatic)

We all have a very limited time on this planet, and being an Artist/Art Photographer in these crazy-Ass times, is not easy: Nothing good was ever easy! Or is it, ‘Nothing Easy is Ever Good!’

☆ Add on to the deductions from your “Life-Clock”, the URGENCY IN LIFE INCREASES if you OWN A DISEASE that doctors say will likely reduce your life expectancy — I own ANKYLOSING SPONDYLITIS (AS). Doctors always remind patients like me (SPONDYs/AS’ers), of our mortality. Doctors say something like, “Nawfal, typically AS’ers die at a younger age, so you can expect to die soon,” or something similar to that.

My response is: “Hey Doc! Thanks a lot for reminding me….I guess I’ll be going back to therapy.”

NEVERTHELESS, I plan to stay as healthy as possible, anyway. BUT ONE THING I CAN’T STAND, is frustrating, time-wasting, Art-Selling membership websites that DO NOT WORK, or do not NAVIGATE easily, and which simply waste more of my extra-limited time from my Life-Clock!

I try new sites often, but usually abandon them quickly when they reveal themselves as being too FRUSTRATING!

Maybe some of you can relate to what I’m saying here.

MENTAL NOTE #117, SIMPLE TASKS THAT CONFIRM, AND REMIND YOU, THAT YOU OWN ANKYLOSING SPONDYLITIS (A.S. or AS or Literally a ‘PAIN IN THE AS(S)’!

January 4, 2021

MENTAL NOTE #117: Yes — There are some simple tasks that EVERYONE, ALMOST, can do without even thinking about them; tasks you can do without working up a massive sweat, without experiencing massive pain, and without feeling massive discomfort and annoyance.

What am I talking about?

I’m talking about ‘Owning‘ the horrible arthritic disease, ANKYLOSING SPONDYLITIS, like I DO! I’ve had this damned painful disease for at least 39 Years! Imagine EVERYDAY PAIN! Yeah, that is what Ownership of Ankylosing Spondylitis is all about.

“Everything you do as an AS’er is typically affected by AS.”

ME, I said that!

I was painfully and annoyingly reminded of this fact today, as I struggled for at least FIVE MINUTES to get my socks on! Yes, SOCKS! The BANE of AS’ers WORLDWIDE! IF you own AS, you should know what I mean, right!

Because the AS’er’s spine is stiff and painful, most of the time; or, like me, having suffered a fractured spine (in two places), DUE TO COMPLICATIONS WITH AS + A TRAUMA, causing a need to go through a HORRENDOUS 10-hours long Spinal Fusion Surgery to keep my spinal cord from being ripped apart as my lumbar spine moved in two different directions, eventually making it so I could no longer walk — MY POINT IS THAT EVEN LESS THAN CRITICAL ACCIDENTS TO MOST PEOPLE, CAN CAUSE DISASTROUS INJURIES FOR AS’ERS.

Yeah, so, that’s only one FUN example of what some of us AS’ers have experienced in THEIR (OUR) OWNERSHIP of AS.

Therefore, the simple act of bending over to put one’s own socks on to dress, is an EXHAUSTING EXPERIENCE to say the least.

Sometimes, after I get my socks on, I feel so drained, I say to myself, “‘Fuuck’it!’ I’m too exhausted to go anywhere.” Nevertheless, it was such an effort to just get my socks on (properly no less, LOL), that it would be a waste NOT to go out. “I’ll teach them ‘Fuuck’en’ socks who they are dealing with!”

ME, I SAID THAT!

Anyway, EVIL SOCKS, the Bane of AS’ers throughout the Galaxy and BEYOND!

I was just thinking about the mysteries of the galaxy today, and the Struggles of Daily Life that many (if not all) AS’ers face. Simple tasks like putting on socks, are indeed, a ‘Pain in the AS(S)’, for AS’ers!