voldemort and parkinson’s. face your demons.

Waiting for the tube in London, years back. Opposite on the wall was this great billboard, promoting lipstick. Which in itself is an alien concept to me, if it wasn’t for the powerful copy. It said something along the lines of: Face the Boss. Face your ex. Face the undertaker (ok, made that one up). Face yourself.

Face whoever. Easy with that particular lipstick, you didn’t even have to be tremendously brave. Bright Red did the work for you, when you were about to face your demons.

Face your demons

Face your demons. Think J.K. Rowling and her absolutely ‘epic’ Harry Potter series. Whatever you think of her stories, her talent is beyond anything. Harry hears about his demon, You Know Who. Only a handful of people dare speak his name, Voldemort, among whom Harry. He never says Mr. V. or V or that pathetic You Know Who, which would only inflate the demon. Saying Voldemort means you’re on level playing field.

no capital for parkinson’s

I call parkinson’s simply parkinson’s. Face your demon. You even call the Income Revenue Service: Income Revenue Service, just to name a demon. Who would say: T.S.T.H.M.I. (The Service That Halves My Income)?
I must admit, if we’re driving to hospital for a visit to the neurologist, I do get a fright at each sign, saying PARKINg, or PARK here, or PARKINg tickets. I bet the average parkinson’s professional never realises why our blood pressure is sky high by the time you’re in the waiting room. Mind you, you have to pass all the PARK signs on the way out as well.

downgrading demons

I am definitely not super brave, but I will not say P when I mean parkinson’s. Mr. P. is far too much honour, I even skip the capital p. When I spell words in my head, which is what I do with ALL words, whether I think them, speak them or hear them, I spell parkinson’s with a p. *
First few weeks after diagnosis, I spelled Parkinson’s Disease in my mind. I’ve now downgraded it to parkinson’s. Face your demons. Scare the hell out of them, stare at them, give them a good beating or ignore them, for all I care. Whatever. Of course I realise it’s hard, you need to practice, practice and then repeat your practice. Demons are nasty creatures after all. But hey, don’t make them nastier than they are already.

* Doctor asks: Is your thinking a bit slower than it used to be?

No doc, but I don’t think you have the first idea about the tiiiiiimeee it takes to spell each and every word in my head. So don’t come up with neurotransmitters, because it will easily take another minute.


Thank you, National Parkinson’s Foundation, Miami, US, for sharing this blog on your fb and twitter media.

 

Thanks for compliment on this blog, Michael J. Fox Foundation, New York, US

Thanks ParkinsonNSW Sydney, Australia for RT:
Another great #PD blog from @MarietteRobijn Facing your #Parkinsons demons – Voldermort and Parkinsons… http://t.co/YBXfhyATtc
— ParkinsonsNSW (@ParkinsonsNSW) 2 februari 2015

Thanks MattEagles, Cuddington, UK:
@MarietteRobijn @jk_rowling that sounds like a book title ! ‘ An unlikely Inspiration ‘
— Matt Eagles (@MattEagles) 2 februari 2015