When I was a kid, I always had a love-hate relationship with the story of Henny Penny, the chicken who felt an acorn land on her head and became convinced that the sky was falling.Ā There were plenty of different versions of the story, but the essence was the same; she made a mistake and then, going into fall catastrophe-mode, went around trying to convince everyone else that her perception of the world was reality.Ā And believe her they did!Ā I loved the way the story kept conga-chain-escalating, but I also hated how the story kept conga-chain-escalating.Ā Surely SOMEONE could have convinced her to take a chill-pill and look around.Ā How could so many adults (albeit ducks, geese and pigeons) be beguiled into believing her anxious untruth?
The story I really loved, on the other hand, even though it made me prudishly squeamish, was the one about the Emperorās new clothes.Ā Vain and foolish, the Emperor eventually let a couple of rouges flatter and cajole him into believing they had sold him the finest invisible silk going around, and that only the poshest people could see it.Ā It was such an outlandish shakedown; I couldnāt believe that a grown up would giveaway his cold hard cash for nothing ā literally nothing!Ā And then, when all the townspeople applauded the Emperor for his pretend-poshdom (as he wandered around in his birthday suit) I was beside myself with wonder that again, adults could be so duped into believing something so untrue and not say something.Ā This time however, how wonderful that the story ended with not just SOMEONE, but a KID, eventually pointing out the truth.
The two stories are similar but different.Ā In one itās an accident of mistaken reality, in the second, there was subterfuge involved, but the result was still a bunch of people being led astray.Ā You only have to read the news to know that similar things are still happening ā some voices are apparently very convincing.
But this sort of thing also happens neurologically.Ā In the WORST migraine I have ever had ā a #10 on my pain scale (I ended up breaking three teeth while grinding through the pain) ā I was CONVINCED that the ceiling had fallen on my head.Ā I repeatedly reached up to push construction off my face that (obviously) did not exist.Ā My brain had gone full Henny-panicky-Penny, and whilst I had no one else around to sway, it was enough that I was a true believer.Ā All I could do was wait for the pain to pass, sit up, take a quick glance at the ceiling and acknowledge; āthe sky definitely did NOT fall on my head… I am OK…. I AM SAFE.ā
I think that the swaying of opinions can also happen medically.Ā Iām not sure that I can honestly say Iāve been āmedically gaslitā, but there have been a couple of times I think I might have been sold a touch of snake-oil by very earnest, even well-meaning people.Ā Without going into details (as Iāve said before ā shame is not my game), Iāve had ātreatmentsā that were as close to invisible silk suits as you can imagine without being illegal.Ā Then again ā maybe Iām not holistically āposhā enough to appreciate them.Ā As Iāve mentioned before about acupuncture, maybe my skepticism unfortunately makes me immune to some forms of healing.
I guess where Iām going with all of this is to remind you that sometimes the old lessons are still some of the best.Ā Next time youāre reading a childrenās book, the newspaper or your medical report, ask yourself ‘how did we get here?’Ā And equally important; ‘what am I going to do about it?Ā Am I going to be a Henny Penny panderer or a naked Emperorās outerer?’
Take care AND be caring,
Linda x
[PS – the image at the top of this post is another of those AI artworks generated by the blog itself… which is a little mind-boggling if I think about it too hard. In this instance, however, I made the small censorship-adjustment for the King; his secret will always be safe with me!]
The Mindful Migraine 
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