LJ Idol Season 10 Week 1 I need the struggle to feel alive
I am a puppeteer by trade. I have been building puppets for close to 40 years now.
One thing you need when you craft or paint is a steady hand especially for straight lines and the like.
One thing I don’t have is a steady hand. I have a condition called Essential Tremors and, from what my neurologist told me, have probably had my entire life. It is a condition that is not going to impact my length of life one iota. I call it a life-annoying situation rather than a life-threatening situation.
Essential tremors are where the brain is firing to the muscles without me telling them to do so. I basically am on vibrate all the time. It gets worse with stress. Exercising makes them worse but exercise is also one of the few things that relieve them. The other thing that makes them slow down is the depressive effect that alcohol has on the nervous system. So I can shake because of tremors or because of alcohol withdraw. I think I’ll stick to the tremors.
I have learned over the years how to compensate for my hands while I am working. I have various tools and tricks that allow me to complete things without too many screw-ups. I also know that I have good days and bad days. There are days that sewing isn’t going to happen because I can’t get my hands to cooperate. Those are the days that a spasm can send a glass or plate flying or a bowling ball into the gutter.
So there are good days and bad days and I take each in stride. On the good days I try to do a little more not knowing when I won’t be able to do as much. It does sometimes make it difficult if I set my phone to vibrate because I can’t tell if it is the phone or me.
Right now I am sitting at the keyboard and I am very aware of the vibrations going through my body. Like I have an electrical charge always on. It tells me in a strange way that I am still alive and still moving. Always moving.
Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
One thing you need when you craft or paint is a steady hand especially for straight lines and the like.
One thing I don’t have is a steady hand. I have a condition called Essential Tremors and, from what my neurologist told me, have probably had my entire life. It is a condition that is not going to impact my length of life one iota. I call it a life-annoying situation rather than a life-threatening situation.
Essential tremors are where the brain is firing to the muscles without me telling them to do so. I basically am on vibrate all the time. It gets worse with stress. Exercising makes them worse but exercise is also one of the few things that relieve them. The other thing that makes them slow down is the depressive effect that alcohol has on the nervous system. So I can shake because of tremors or because of alcohol withdraw. I think I’ll stick to the tremors.
I have learned over the years how to compensate for my hands while I am working. I have various tools and tricks that allow me to complete things without too many screw-ups. I also know that I have good days and bad days. There are days that sewing isn’t going to happen because I can’t get my hands to cooperate. Those are the days that a spasm can send a glass or plate flying or a bowling ball into the gutter.
So there are good days and bad days and I take each in stride. On the good days I try to do a little more not knowing when I won’t be able to do as much. It does sometimes make it difficult if I set my phone to vibrate because I can’t tell if it is the phone or me.
Right now I am sitting at the keyboard and I am very aware of the vibrations going through my body. Like I have an electrical charge always on. It tells me in a strange way that I am still alive and still moving. Always moving.
Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz