{"id":1659,"date":"2015-05-13T01:06:11","date_gmt":"2015-05-13T01:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1659"},"modified":"2015-05-11T19:19:40","modified_gmt":"2015-05-11T19:19:40","slug":"chronic-illness-compose-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/05\/chronic-illness-compose-yourself.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness: Compose Yourself!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Photo courtesy of Grant Cochrane\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wait! Wait! I’ve got it…uh…it’s…I’ve got it…Oh, no I don’t!<\/p>\n

If you have an illness where there is a component of brain fog (as with lupus and many other autoimmune illnesses), you’ve probably had the experience of trying to remember the words or melody to a song and come up short. We all have favorite music, but when illness flares, recall can be tough (good thing for CDs and MP3s!)<\/p>\n

But rather than get frustrated, there’s another way to approach musical memory mayhem. Compose something yourself! Yes, make up your own words and tune, fitting them into how you’re feeling and what you’re doing – or not, because the choice is yours!<\/p>\n

Pretend that you cannot speak, but only sing, and let your voice express yourself to the four walls of your room or inside your car or, even, to whomever is in your life and willl listen! Punctuate your vocal variety with hand claps or foot stomps or even improvised dance. Again, the choice is completely up to you – no critic will review you, no audience will boo you!<\/p>\n

Some research has shown that singing and music can be very therapeutic. We can all use an expression for our creativity, that wonderful, rollicking gift that God has only and exclusively bestowed on his human children. Why not compose yourself today? Let your song rise and with it, your spirit, too!<\/p>\n

Joys!<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wait! Wait! I’ve got it…uh…it’s…I’ve got it…Oh, no I don’t! If you have an illness where there is a component of brain fog (as with lupus and many other autoimmune illnesses), you’ve probably had the experience of trying to remember the words or melody to a song and come up short. We all have favorite…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,360,43,4,1047,578,383,1420,1245,1247,1246],"tags":[29,1705,1710,1706,560,1707,19,18,933,30,1708,1709],"class_list":["post-1659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-determination","category-encouragement-in-life","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-good","category-goodness","category-heart-health","category-pain-2","category-positive","category-rising-above-tragedy","category-uplifting","tag-chronic-illness","tag-chronic-illness-and-pain","tag-composing-your-own-music","tag-coping-with-brain-fog","tag-coping-with-lupus","tag-coping-with-memory-loss","tag-illness","tag-lupus","tag-music-and-health","tag-pain","tag-singing-and-health","tag-singing-your-song"],"yoast_head":"\nChronic Illness: Compose Yourself! - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/05\/chronic-illness-compose-yourself.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronic Illness: Compose Yourself! - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Wait! Wait! I’ve got it…uh…it’s…I’ve got it…Oh, no I don’t! If you have an illness where there is a component of brain fog (as with lupus and many other autoimmune illnesses), you’ve probably had the experience of trying to remember the words or melody to a song and come up short. 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She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1659"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1660,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659\/revisions\/1660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}