Physical pain and creativity

Well, well... it has been a long time since I last posted. And I suppose there's good reason for that. I had a serious bout of gout in early May, that triggered an inflammatory response in my entire left foot. The gout is gone, but I have an inflamed bunion that has caused severe chronic pain in my foot for weeks. I am able to hobble around (and have been taking two strong NSAID medications), and I do have an upcoming appointment with a podiatrist (unfortunately, not until June 23rd!). However, I remain in a fair amount of chronic pain, physically; and significant psychological effects as well ("Will I ever walk without pain again"? "What about the two physical activities I enjoy the most --golfing and walking"?). To be honest -- even though I realize many others have it far worse than me -- it has been a difficult 4 weeks. It seems that I am able to find a "happy place" in art during periods of depression, or anger, or grief. But this chronic physical pain seems to have really dampened any motivation to do art. It's so strange, because, technically, the pain in my foot does not affect the use of my hands, or my eyes. Why does it so drastically affect my motivation to do art. You might think that art would be a good sanctuary. But that just doesn't seem to be the case. And of course, that just contributes to the negative psychological effects. I am trying to remain optimistic that I will eventually get back to life as usual. But with seemingly little day-to-day progress, it has been difficult. I feel like a hot mess. I will be sure to post when I get "back at it". And, as always, thank you for your interest in checking out my blog!