Go Back and Get It

Have you ever heard the term Sankofa or seen it represented by a bird that looks behind to the past while its feet face forward, moving into the future? From the Twi language of Ghana, Sankofa is said to mean, “Go back and get it.”

Pictured, is my crude rendition of the bird. A few minutes with a stylus helped me to avoid waiting however long to ask the permission of a genuine artist for the use of theirs. Ha.

Nandi

Often, I’ve been brought back to this blog space because someone has stumbled upon my blog where I wrote about using vitamin C to heal from a severe case of sciatica caused by herniated discs. In the past year, it has sometimes taken me months to come back and approve comments left by visitors (please, accept my apologies!) to that specific post, but eventually, I make it back. Even when I’m not approving comments, I’m sharing the link because someone drops me a PM on social media or someone tells someone else about how I self-healed, and they might be able to do the same.

When I penned my experience, I had no idea it would help as many people as it has. For anybody for whom it made the difference between surgery and a less invasive method, I’m happy to have been the messenger. If through my own pain many more were helped than solely myself, perhaps, there was something to be had for my pain. Of course, I didn’t feel this way when sciatica was kicking my literal butt.

I spoke about the term Sankofa above. Lately, the term has taken on REnewed meaning for me. One where I’ve revisited many of my past writings, not just at this blog, but at some of my others (which are many), and I’ve come to realize that some were more than just the ramblings of a writer. Some contained information of value which contributed to making the lives of others, many of whom I’ll probably never come to know, a bit better.

So, not only have I gone back to “get it,” in looking toward the future, I’ve decided to return to writing about one of my greatest passions—health and wellness—right here, instead of helping Facebook increase its traffic, while information that could have helped more, gets lost somewhere in my timeline.

While I haven’t suffered with sciatica since I chronicled it back in 2014, I have met with another serious health malady. This one taught me how strong is the correlation between stress and illness. I, literally, burned myself out, throwing my thyroid out of balance in the process. From the time I was a little girl, I’ve been living life in high gear. No go slows.

Now, I have no choice. Not solely because of what ails me, but because I have made the choice to go slow. To cruise and take in the sights.

People say live a little. Well, all that living got me here. Hyperthyroidism (the cousin of hypothyroidism). Grave’s Disease (the cousin of Hashimoto’s). I’ll share more about this journey in future blogs.

Just know that I plan to spend the next book of my life decompressing, revisiting, living forward, finding a reason to laugh and smile, and not putting too much pressure on myself. I’m going to see more of parks than I ever have before. Hiking and walking briskly enough for it to matter, yet slowly enough to “still feel the breeze that rustles through the trees.” And while doing that, I’ll be back here. Getting it. Sankofa—and Al Green.