I have long been drawn to dragonflies. I have wind chimes, coffee cups, jewelry, clothing, wall decor, even a shower curtain all designed with dragonflies. The aesthetics of them, their colors and shapes, are so pleasing to my eye. It wasn't until my husband and I bought our dragonfly cast iron tea pot and matching tea cups that I learned of any meaning attached to these insects. When I decided to start this blog I did some searches for meaning associated with dragonflies. And the results were delightful.
The dragonfly symbolizes change, transformation, living life to the full and reaching one's full potential.
For the Japanese, the dragonfly is an emblem of joy and rebirth.
For the ancient Mayan civilization, the dragonfly was an emblem of the goddess of creativity.
The second part of the title, Koru, is a Maori word (of the Maori people, pacific islanders, native to New Zealand) that means: growth, new beginnings, harmony, peace, and tranquility.
In DragonflyKoru I am going to chronicle my quest for the energy and strength I need to pursue my life goals. I am at the beginning of what I hope will be a transformation and I'm going to use all my creative power to do it. My hope is that this will lead to joy, peace, harmony and tranquility for me and others.
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| Joyful by Angela Mia de la Vega |
In June 2009, I was diagnosed with Lupus. Since that time I have been learning how to live with this auto-immune disease, how to manage my symptoms of Lupus.
I used to think of myself as a strong person. In elementary school I was a strong swimmer and I beat boys in swim races. In high school I was a varsity starter for my high school basketball team and I won 1st and 2nd place ribbons for shot put and discus in track. And I was always a runner.
Though years of poor self care had led to a decline in my overall health, lupus stripped me of my strength. Suddenly I couldn't run any more. I couldn't open jars. I felt WEAK. Because I was weak, my husband had to help me with all kinds of things I had easily done for myself before. And that was hard. I had a debilitating disease. My rheumatologist told me that some of his lupus patients even qualified for disability status in the workplace.
In addition to the weakness, I have unbelievable fatigue. Before lupus I was tired a lot, I've never been a high energy kind of person, but the fatigue I experience now, since getting lupus, is in a whole different category. It's really awful.
Lupus has changed my body and that has completely affected the way I live my life. Because I am now sick, health has a whole knew meaning. I long to be strong, full of energy and capable of high productivity.
While my husband and I were living in Cambodia, I decided to try exercise as a path to health and strength. I started working out on our apartment's gym equipment 1-2 hours almost daily. After 9 months I did feel a significant improvement in my fatigue levels and overall strength. But I was still a long way from normal.
We moved back to the states 8 months ago and my health steadily worsened with each passing month. So that now, my fatigue levels are super high. I have pain in my shoulder, symptoms of a lupus flare coming on. Two weeks ago I had to go to Urgent Care for an abscess. My immune system has become weak and susceptible to infection. My blood pressure is high. I've gained back the pounds I worked like a dog to lose in Cambodia. And to add insult to injury I have plantar fasciitis in my right foot, which makes it super painful to walk or even to put any pressure on my heel!
A month ago my husband was offered a job and we moved from Montana to Washington. Though the move was a good thing, I struggled with depression. I grieved the loss of my health. But slowly I started to think of this as a new beginning, an opportunity for transformation, a time to get healthy. Really healthy and strong. And I would use my artistic personality and creativity to do it.
For those 8 months I didn't write my blog. My RhinoCrashSafari blog is a blog about culture, the experiences my husband and I have had because of the work we do with poor populations, what we've learned from them and how that changed us. The material for that blog comes from living overseas so when we are living in the US there is little to write about. But I missed writing my blog so much. So I started to think of an idea for another blog. So I could WRITE. Writing is one of my most joyful creative outlets. Because I have an artist personality, I don't feel alive unless I have some way to express my creativity. Every day.
So I'm writing this blog for myself. But my hope is that maybe people will enjoy reading about my journey or perhaps even be inspired to figure how to do something they really want to do too.
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