Broken.
A word with so many negative connotations many of which
signify endings, crash & burn scenarios, impossibilities, incapacitations,
inabilities to fix.
Let’s look at the cold hard facts: we live in a world of
consumerism at its finest. It’s a beautiful thing in a stupid way- you can get
anything you want from anywhere in the world pretty much whenever you want it.
It seems like many of these things are designed to self-destruct after a
predetermined amount of time. They last just long enough to get you hooked then
crumble beneath your fingertips so you’re forced to buy more rather than go
without. They crumble, they disintegrate, they BREAK.
To Break. Breaking. Broke. Broken.
Break-ups, break-downs, break-aparts. You can break up with
a way you’ve chosen to lead your life, with another human, with a dream. As a
result, you can break down. Hell, your car can even break down- though let’s be
honest, that’s preferable to having a house burn down or something else along
those lines.
All of these leave you with a loss: a loss of lifestyle, of
sanity, of relationships, of goals, of beloved items of gear that you’ve run
ragged across innumerable adventures.
But.
That’s right: But. In these losses, these departures we also
find arrivals.
You can break down a scenario to glean a way to deal / cope
/ approach (choose your favorite). You can break up with who you used to be and
move on to be a better human. Sometimes the objects you break apart turn out to
be easter eggs full of delicious things someone hid in your car as a surprise
while you were out.
You can break objects, you can break your soul, your heart,
your body, your bones.
Perhaps, instead of mourning the loss people should
celebrate that there was something, whatever it may be, solid enough to break
& notice said break happening in the first place. Breaking takes some sort
of force & where there’s force there was probably a good bit of life lived
to cause the snap.
Rumor has it a gal you probably know broke a leg this
spring. Rumor has it the break was caused by diving headfirst- both figuratively AND literally- into something new on an
awesomely bluebird day with pockets full of fruit-snacks & chocolate
surrounded by stupendous folks. Ten points, endless rolls of ace wrap, and
usage of well-worn crutches to anyone with a guess as to who.
Yeah, a bone broke (not cleanly)… The beauty of it? Bone
regenerates with time and in that time bonds are formed. Bonds of new bone, of
family, of new relationships, of steadfast old friendships. Bonds that might
not have gotten as much attention as they deserve had you been able bodied. Sure,
being bed-bound is not ideal but it sure does show you who cares. From one friend willing to spend a chunk of their ski day in the emergency clinic with you then
ski your borrowed helmet back up to another on edge because she heard
your identifying age & initials over the ski-patrol radio to the boyfriend who
helps you gingerly move enough to get situated at their house only to drive back
into town & pick up painkillers for you. To that same one who accompanied you to every doctors visit to make sure they know not recovering fully is NOT an option,
listened to your mother tell stories of that time you were a weirder kid than you are now, and taught you to play chess because what else do you do with
a bed-bound gimp? I could continue with this list
but I digress.
A broken bone: an active person’s worst dream? Nah. The
richness of life that can stem from it is worth its weight in gold- or in this
case, titanium.
A few weeks ago that girl started to walk unaided by
crutches or boots. This week that girl started to guide hikes. Next week
that girl might get to start trying to run again. There's still some work to be done but this bionic woman is getting back on track.
So consider this a big thank-you. Kudos to every single one of you who helped out from near and afar. It takes a village, as they say, and this village is a bastion.
