{"id":487,"date":"2021-03-25T16:02:50","date_gmt":"2021-03-25T16:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thisbridgecalledcyberspace.net\/ThisBridge\/?p=487"},"modified":"2021-03-29T13:18:46","modified_gmt":"2021-03-29T13:18:46","slug":"learning-from-illness-creative-growth-isnt-lazy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thisbridgecalledcyberspace.net\/ThisBridge\/finding-myself\/learning-from-illness-creative-growth-isnt-lazy\/","title":{"rendered":"9) Learning from Illness: Creative Growth Isn’t Lazy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Welcome. I am moving from disease into ease as I negotiate my recently diagnosed autoimmune vasculitis. My absence from blogging is explained by fact that I couldn\u2019t do anything until I found some digital hacks for my health and to build my community connections. <\/span>I write to overcome my fear as I transition into an independent scholar building a small web design, education-consulting, and database company while learning to live with chronic disease. In this post I share digital resources that I found while learning from illness and developing my new professional status. I want to connect with communities of Chicana feminists and other digital scholars of color to reduce the digital divide. <\/p>\n

During the Time-of-Pain, I was grateful for the Chicana feminist scholars who have hired me to create digital assignments, websites, and database tools. My independent scholar and designer identity is growing. While I am applying for database administration jobs, I\u2019 don\u2019t want to give up my Chicana feminist digital scholar identity. The chance to help others has kept me from sinking into a very dark place. <\/span><\/p>\n

Creativity and digital creative tools helped this middle-aged nerd reintegrate teaching and academics into a new reality. Creative growth requires accepting alternative perspectives. In my 20 years as a women\u2019s studies and Chicanx studies professor at St Edward’s University, I used the tuition remission option to complete a computer science degree that I started at UC Berkeley; I also completed all but three classes for my MBA with a focus on digital marketing, and took classes in graphic design and bioinformatics. As a scientist and humanist, I continue to be awed about how much watercolor and art classes alter my view of learning. Watercolor painting and the creative approach of graphics design classes have been helpful as I navigate my illness and hack my life back into my own hands. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Bathtub Virgen<\/span><\/i>, watercolor by Lisa-Justine Hernandez  <\/span><\/p>\n

Truth is that for almost a year, I have been stuck in denial. Since my November 2020 blog post, a doctor specialized in autoimmune illness ended my three months of daily, constant pain and sleepless nights. First I avoided my sadness about no longer having the title of associate professor and the stability of tenure\u201420 years and now…nothing.  Add to that learning that I no longer have perfect health. Despite months of pain, I wanted to avoid the idea because <\/span>fear is a mind-killer.<\/span><\/a> Until the ER doctors admitted me to the hospital for one night, I had never been seriously ill.  Although my illness is being managed, I lost months of focus. By sifting through <\/span>LinkedIn Learning,<\/span><\/a> I found online resources that I use to improve my focus for writing and building my digital design and education consulting company and to help me connect with Chicana feminist digital resource-experts. <\/span><\/p>\n

I hope you find the tools helpful. They helped me set up a writing group check-in space and summon my own thought-dragon; I’ll explain more below in the Enter Spiritual Artistic CyberAztl\u00e1n<\/b> section \ud83d\ude42<\/span><\/p>\n

USEFUL TOOLS<\/b><\/p>\n