I was a teenager when my mother suggested I read Franz Kafka’s novella ‘Metamorphosis’. Spoiler alert – in the opening sequence, a man discovers he has turned into a giant cockroach.
The point of the story (I now believe) is that there are occasionally moments of dumb-bad-luck when humans can go from able-bodied, capable creatures, to suddenly finding themselves (generally through no fault of their own) turned into ‘something else’ that is less supported by societal norms.
The story opens with the main character, Gregor Samsa waking up to find himself floundering on his back, repulsive to look at (by other people’s standards), unable to fend for himself, and a massive inconvenience to all those who have to accommodate him…
Stripped of his humanity, poor Gregor Samsa quickly becomes marginalized and neglected.
I don’t want to be morose – (not a great way to start then (I know)) – but I do want to throw it out there; for a lot of people living with chronic pain, there are times when it feels… well… I’ll let Gregor tell it how it is:
“I cannot make you understand. I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me. I cannot even explain it to myself.”
Here’s some images that I found on Pinterest of artists who have turned Kafka’s written-art into visual-art:
[Image sources (all Pinterest – but I think I might have jumbled the order sorry): Pin on Tattoo design drawings; Metamorphosis; Metamorphosis – Franz Kafka; La metamorfosis – Franz Kafka; Pin on Frases; Register – Login; Pin on Franz Kafka; ghost in the machine; Björn Griesbach Illustrations]
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I’m going to be a bit weird, and say that the main take away I got from looking at all these evocative images is this:
There’s a potential cockroach in all of us.
[And I don’t mean you accidently get one in your mouth – although that did happen to my sister once in our orange Kombi van when we were on a camping trip. I was about 8 years old, and I can still remember the horror of it! >>Shiver<<]
What I’m saying is that we are all one bad-luck-moment away from being incapacitated (temporarily or permanently). One finger-click away from being a new, altered version of ourselves, a version that we may or may not like… and which others may or may not warm too. One blink of an eye can turn us from “useful” citizens to (seemingly) use-less.
What’s worse – the world seems to be getting less and less sympathetic to ‘those sorts of people’ (I include my most-migrainey-self in the cockroach-category). The systems that were set up to help people in their time of need seem to be decreasing in quantity, at the exact same time that the demand for them is increasing.
The hoops you have to go through to obtain support also seem to be becoming increasingly ‘Kafkaesque’ – a term derived from Kafka’s narratives and intended to indicate experiences which are nonsensical, nightmarish, bizarre, overly-bureaucratic, dehumanizing and/or downright cruel…
[I’m very fortunate to be well supported – but it makes my head ache to know that in Australia, you have to be unwell for 15 out of 30 days a month (i.e. very disabled by pain) to get the diagnosis of ‘chronic migraine’ – and you need that diagnosis to get access to certain forms of medications – BUT – also in Australia, chronic migraine patients find it VERY difficult to access any form of disability assistance, and stigma still seems to follow us around like bugs on a bin.]
I’m mortified to read posts on Social Media where one group of people is telling another group of struggling people to “just pull yourself up by your bootstraps / try harder / sort it out / get a job / ask your family not the taxpayer to help you out”… and it gets worse again when you realize it seems to be a trend that is going global.
UGH
Am I the only one who feels like life is becoming decidedly Kafkaesque???
OK, so now I am starting to sound morose.
It’s really not my (full) intention.
There is a potential upside to metamorphosis – not all transformations are negative.
One of the first posts I ever wrote on this blog nearly 2 years ago (!?!) was titled Metamorphosis and migraines (it is very short and I can see now how much I was still finding my voice!), but it includes a sentiment that remains the same today as it did two years ago:
“Why not think about this [sick] blanket-wrapped bed-bound version of yourself as a cocoon? Given enough time and self-help healing, a new version of you will arise and flutter-up. Not better or worse, just different.“
This was the image that I used for that post (made by me & AI):
It made me yearn for some more goodness to end with. SO back to Pinterest, this time to look for images inspired by the concept of metamorphosis:
[Image sources: The Hopeful Warrior – My Journey with Hodgkin Lymphoma; Ashley Blanton; Pin on ae • moodboards; Cocoon – Nayoung Jeong; Kawsachiy – digital collage]
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The reality is, change is an inevitable part of life (without change there would be no growth) – we know that – so – understanding that, why not be a part of the group of humans who accept that change is ALSO an unavoidable part of other people’s lives and be as supportive of them as possible when it happens.
Take care taking care everyone, everywhere, always,
Linda xx
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PS – I just realized that the images that I selected to explain Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’ mostly have sepia tones (which I then replicated in the next set of images)… and that reminds me of a lovely poem I read called “Sepia” by Carol Anne over on her blog Therapy Bits. It includes swoony lines such as “Through sepia eyes, the heart can see— / Not just what was, but what could be.” Read her whole poem here: Sepia – Therapy Bits
PPS – Here’s a shoutout for a blog post I recently read that got my mind suitably Kafka-twisty: Reality Is an Inside Job – Insight exchange
PPPS – One last thing (I promise): Just as I was finalizing this post to send it out, I came across a perfectly horrible example of the Kafka-isation of our world. An enormous ‘Christmas’ panel was installed in a shopping precinct in London. From a distance, the image looks festive enough… but upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent the billboard is an enormous pile of nightmarish AI slop:
[Images are screen shots taken on the following three sites: AI artwork in London axed after being misinterpreted / Londoners are baffled as a huge AI-generated Christmas mural appears / Scenes of Lovecraftian horror at Kingston’s riverside]
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The Mindful Migraine 
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