A while ago I wrote about the blogger Diana and her site The Oake Raven. She wrote back to thank me for the shoutout and mentioned that the rune I had pulled (here) was akin to being a “house that withstands the storm” – and now I can actually see a little lopsided shed in the form:
Her comment got me thinking.
I regularly hear the phrase “my body is my temple”… I can’t relate. As I’ve mentioned before, I have only JUST begun to value my body as being more than a stick to hold my brain off the floor. The idea that my body is a place of worship seems silly (to me).
The idea that my body is like a little lopsided house, on the other hand, resonates.
Home is where the heart is, and why can’t my body be a homely vessel that holds my emotions and energy?
I’ve written in the past about developing personal boundaries – especially when you are feeling unwell – and I used the metaphors of picket fences, stone walls and drawbridges that rise and fall… so again… the house metaphor makes sense to me.
[Being trained as an architect probably helps too!]
When I circle back to Diana’s comment about the house that withstands the storm, a thought keeps popping out to me – the 3 Little Piggies in the folk tale. They settle into a location where there also happens to be a Big Bad Wolf. As such, they each decide they need a house to keep them safe.
One Little Piggie makes a haphazard home of straw. I can’t remember whether he’s lazy, optimistic or naive, but regardless – his little piggie place blows away when the Big Bad Wolf comes to huff and puff and blow the house down.
Here’s Wikipedia’s illustration of the moment of upending (from a 1904 illustration by Leonard Leslie Brooke):
[Image source: The Three Little Pigs – Wikipedia]
Luckily, Little Piggie Number One is able to make a break for it, and finds refuge in House Number Two. In a sense, he tried and failed, but lived to fight another day, AND learnt from his experience.
Overcoming creates resilience.
Resilience creates strength.
Strength creates “success” in whatever form feels right for you.
Of course, the story is not over yet, the two piggies find out that sticks are not much better than straw at withstanding the bad-storm-breath of the Wolf, and soon they both have to curly-high-tail-it to Little Piggie Number Three’s place.
This brick home was put up in record time, and good thing too, because the lockable doors and fully-functioning-fireplace all come in handy in the plot development and moral-making.
The two little piggies who have already been rehomed are tougher now, they are street-smart and know what’s going down (literally and figuratively) – they have life experience to combine with Piggie Three’s foresight. AND they all work as a team to overcome adversity.
They succeed.
The house withstands the storm.
They live to tell the tale.
As do we.
Migraines, but also fibromyalgia, POTS, arthritis, chronic back pain, and, and, and… they all blow and buffer and bother us with their wolfy-meanness… and yet… we use our minds and bodies to withstand the pressure – we prevail.
We don’t always get everything “right” day to day or on our healing journey, but we’re doing the best we can. Sometimes our efforts are strong and mighty, sometimes floppy, wonky or lopsided, but always well intended.
And when we get it “wrong” – hey! we tried – and we have friends (digital or otherwise) who can remind us to keep going, keep growing – you got this.
Here’s hoping that one day we can all sit around an enormous table in a giant brick house and congratulate each other for having made it so far. I’ll raise a glass (of water) to you all and celebrate your efforts, and laugh at the wind when it tries to rattle my foundations.
Keep blowing Wolfie – you don’t know it – but you’re making me stronger every day!
Take care out there, Linda xx
PS – I recently heard a YouTuber give some advice about managing negative thoughts. I can’t find the link (sorry), but she also used a house-metaphor to make her point. She delivered her story with a glorious, albeit potty-mouthed confidence, which I’ll paraphrase here: if some random feral dude rocked up on your lawn, banged on the door and yelled, “let me in”, you’d reply “no way”. If they cursed and cussed and then whispered with a sugary-sweet voice, “if you let me in, I’ll tell you a secret”, you still wouldn’t unlock the front door… in fact, you’d probably be horrified and might race around the house to check all your defenses were in place and then call the cops. So why, oh why, when negative thoughts approach your “home” do you throw open all the windows and roll out a welcome mat? Come on people! Say no to negativity, and keep that sh!t outside where it belongs!!
The Mindful Migraine 
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