Yesterday, a friend of mine wrote me of a tragedy that affected his community.  A child passed away.  I wrote back the proper condolences, and felt for him and his family, and then moved on.

I threw my back out an hour later or so.  No sudden moves.  Wasn’t lifting anything heavy.  And I’m in pretty good shape.  Of course it was a coincidence.  I’m not that much of a Taos New Age Hippie.  At least not yet.

Anyway, I’m in pretty severe pain today, even though I’m pretty sure there’s nothing seriously wrong down there.  I went w/ 800 mg of Ibuprofen, some Vicodin and white wine yesterday, but that didn’t knock it out.

So today, I’m just sitting with the pain.  It’s pretty strong.  Mostly, I’m thinking about how easily pain can override our higher functioning.  I try to be aware of my emotions, and to scale back anger when I can.  But pain is different.  It’s pure, and the chemicals associated w/ it just flood the brain, pushing everything else away.  I feel for those with terminal or chronic illness.  Or those who live with loss. 

I wrote the right things to my friend yesterday.  But I didn’t summon the right kind of empathy.  Didn’t realize how hard it is to push on and function properly with deep pain.

I know I can take some more pills, and that this will pass in a day or two regardless.  But the lesson, perhaps, I can carry a little longer.  It’s hard to judge people when you don’t really know what’s going on in their lives, and what they carry around with them each day.