Healing step-by-step

And how Substack has played a role in the process

It’s now been six weeks since I broke my arm running to catch a train in Austria. The doctor told me last Thursday that the bone is healing well and I no longer have to wear a sling. (If truth be told, I no longer have to feel guilty for NOT wearing the uncomfortable thing.)

For weeks, I have been afraid to move my arm or to feel pain because of the fear that I will fracture my arm even more. This is why it is so liberating to know that the pain I continue to feel is only due to lack of use, not to the possibility of additional damage.

Therefore, I am starting to move my arm in spite of the pain. Today I managed to raise it to shoulder height (almost), and I even managed to tie my own shoes! So baby step by baby step, I am starting to heal.

I’ve been surprised by how much the break has affected me. Sure the arm hurts, but the pain is not anywhere close to an infected tooth or ear. Not to mention natural childbirth. All of which I have experienced.

For whatever reason, however, I haven’t been able to concentrate on much of anything. I have 13 Substack post ideas waiting in the wings, but I haven’t felt like tackling them. Nor have I felt much like walking along the road pictured above, which usually draws me forward several times a week.

Instead I’ve watched Youtube videos on the disheartening political situation in the U.S. and the devastation left by hurricanes Milton and Helene. I’ve also read daily news stories about the awful events happening in Ukraine and the Middle East. As a result, I’ve become more and more overwhelmed by an inability to take action of any kind.

The one saving grace has been reading the Substack newsletters I subscribe to! I so look forward to the latest articles written by wonderful, thoughtful people around the world who are producing fascinating pieces on all kinds of topics. People like Samantha Childress, ME Rothwell, Jeanine Kitchel, Heather Cox Richardson and many more. I love learning about their lives, experiences and the knowledge and wisdom that they share—all of which lifts my spirits and expands my world no matter what else is happening.

My husband and I drove into Dingle Town this morning to buy bread and fruit for breakfast. (The Supervalu grocery store there bakes bread—including sourdough and a whole wheat walnut—seven days a week, and they are absolutely delicious.)

While buying an equally delicious curried chicken pot pie from the deli counter, I talked to a lovely young man from Spain who has been working at the grocery store for at least a year now. He mentioned that his dream is to become a journalist but that he didn’t know how to get started.

I told him all about Substack and said that if I were his age, I would be building my career here. I also told him that many famous journalists are now publishing their own pieces on Substack, as well as people around the world who write in every genre you can think of. In the end, he said I had literally changed his life.

This not only made me feel good, but it also inspired me to begin creating my own articles again!