Image: Pixabay
I watched with a curious fascination as the wicked scalpel was drawn across the skin, blood following in its wake. Somehow both detached and yet deeply, intimately engaged. It was an oddly disturbing feeling. It was, after all, my own flesh that was being deliberately and slowly sliced with great precision.
It had been my own fault. And a mental note was made, along with a swiftly administered metaphorical kick to be more careful with oyster knives in future. Just a small slip, but that is all it takes to cut a tendon. So there I was, under local anaesthetic, watching two surgeons repair it, and feeling oddly like a puppet as they retrieved the severed ends of the tendon and twitched my fingers without my voluntary participation. And I could not understand at all why they hadn’t just put me to sleep.
This happened a long time ago now, but I remember that it was quite fascinating to watch, in spite of my normal aversion to seeing sharp and shiny things pierce skin. The actual piercing of flesh has always been a dodgy area for me; I’m fine with anything else, not in the least bit squeamish, which is just as well given two sons who managed to get damaged in the most creative ways as they grew up. I wouldn’t say they were accident prone as much as adventure prone. The combination of, say, a hill, a bare back and a skateboard, for instance, or a mountain bike pointed down a steep slope… And don’t get me started on screwdrivers!
Any claims that it might be hereditary are neither here nor there. However, I digress.
I have spent the past couple of weeks having various areas of my anatomy threatened with more surgery. I am not happy with the prospect and shall resist until all other options have been exhausted. I may have to give in at some point, though not yet, I hope. I have no desire to go under the knife yet again.
Blades cut both ways… They expose and remove the unwanted, damaged or dangerous. They can reshape, and rework where there is need. And we are not just talking about surgery here. A sculptor’s knife creates, subtracting from the unformed mass to reveal and define form and beauty. A sword can take life or cut the bonds of a prisoner and a blade separates mother and child at birth.
With life too, sometimes there are moments when we feel the sword poised above us, or the sharp bite of the blade. There is no escape from the pain when these events occur. Only time heals, as with any wound. Yet there may be grace within the blade that is not at first obvious.
Qabalists speak of Geburah, and that sphere has been named the cosmic surgeon, its function to cut away all that is effete, outmoded and no longer serves evolution. For us, mere mortals, that blade may cut deep, clearing from our lives that which holds us back. It may allow us to measure ourselves against who we are and who we can become, testing our courage and endurance to the limits. Yet these moments can carry possibilities of freedom we may not see while grief has us in its grasp.
Sometimes, from surprising sources, great beauty is brought into being. I think it was Picasso who said that there is no act of creation that was not, first of all, an act of destruction. Sometimes our greatest opportunities for growth and change are born from the darkest events of our lives and the hand that wields the blade, though it does so with sure strength, may be surprisingly tender and moves only with love.
Brilliant and thoughtful, Sue. You were razor sharp.
Nicely done, Jennie 😉
😀
true…good to read…we do not REALISE that greatest creation comes out of greatest destruction and start blaming something or someone..thx for the insight
Destruction and creation are intinately linked.
I coped with a LOT of surgery, but the heart surgery I resisted as long as I could. In the end, it was life or death and Garry seemed to prefer me alive. If not for him, I’m not sure I would have done it.
I always wanted to watch the surgery, but they always knocked me out, even when I asked. I’m not given to fainting at the sight of blood. Like you, I have been a frequent accidental cutter of various pieces of myself — fingers especially. I have a box cutter with enough blood in it to convict someone of murder. The heart surgery, though, flipped some kind of switch in my brain and though its a few years ago now, I haven’t fully recovered. It was also deeply terrifying on some level and I still don’t fully understand what happened.
No one likes surgery and I always tell people to try every other possibility and get multiple opinions from different doctors before doing it. Sometimes, if you can wait longer, they invent a new surgery that works better. That happened with at least one surgery for which I waited a full 25 years because I didn’t like the solution they were offering. I’m deeply grateful I waited. By the time they fixed my feet so I could walk on them again, I didn’t need any plastic joints. I got to keep my own toes.
But the last three major surgeries were all life or death. I didn’t have a choice. Family IS a commitment which doesn’t let you opt out. Even when that’s what you want to do.
I can understand Garry’s desire to have you stick around a while, Marilyn! And your resisting surgery until there was no other choice too.
I agree to some point. In my past over time, I have had three of these cuts, medically done, in both wrists. Carpal tunnel, and cuts that take away the deep pain, free the nerve to bring the wrist back into normal functions.
Evely
I’ve had that done too, Evelyn… and hope I don’t have to have tem done again!
Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
Thanks for sharing, Jaye x
Some members of my family are banned from anything sharp, knives, scissors mainly. I cannot ban myself, unfortunately, for someone has to do the jobs that involve these weapons. I don’t consider it a job well done unless I have bled on it, and this can be anything I turn my hand to.
I know that feelng all too well, Jaye…I can have the silliest and most gory accidents…
I remember!
🙂
You are so right Sue, we just don’t always see it that way. 💜💜
At least, not at the time 😉 <3
No true🌹
Reblogged this on Campbells World.
Thank you for rreblogging, Patty.
Your words “cut to the chase” as the expression goes, Sue. When I read your first paragraph, I immediately returned to the time that my flesh was cut open with a sharp knife, and I was awake, with a mirror above me so I could see my son lifted from my abdomen during caesarian surgery. To me, an apt example of the yin and yang of being cut deep. The wound hurt for weeks, yet the joy that I received from that cut is still with me – 37 years later. (And the product is 6 feet 2 with his own 3 male products who are also “adventure prone.”)
But going deeply, the worse cerebral, emotional pain I received, led me to the best circumstances of my life.
I hope you heal well, and can avoid the knife now as much as possible.
Thanks, Pamela… Our children are a great example of this ‘double-edged blade’. They are without doubt, worth all the pain of bringing them into the world… and all the emtional pain we may have to face throughout their, and our, lives.
Without doubt. <3
<3
Severity tempered by Mercy, we tend to forget the healing balm and can only focus on the pain of the knife. Well said Sue. x
The pain tends to be quite vivid and overrides any wider view at the time… but there are usually good reasons for the wielding of the knife.
( Aren’t you supposed to be on holiday? 😉 ) x
I am, but keeping the odd look (and it is odd 😆) on what’s going on in the literary salons on WordPress.
Hve fun… hope the weather is as good where you are as it is here at the moment 🙂
So far it’s been good Sue. Taking lots of photos. x
Oh good 🙂
Oh Sue, I hope you’re okay. I too have a terrible aversion to anything cutting into the skin and watching blood form, including a regular blood test. You are a warrior 🙂 xxx
Believe me, ‘d rather have slept through it 😉 xx
No kidding!!!! 🙁 xx
Your writing was amazing. I got so much more out of this post than just about your cut, though that was major too. Thank you so much.
These posts are not about me… I am just an illustration 😉