The Amazing Life of Sowmithra Sanjay

 

The young genius lost in her thoughts.

Hello there,

Welcome to the innermost circle. Your reward after a long and gruesome journey is...... Nothing. 

Ha! You really thought you'd be getting something really exciting, I bet? Well, fear not, for Sowmithra Sanjay is here to shatter your expectations.
I see you are here to know what it's like being me (I know for a fact that this wasn't a conscious choice and you made it here either by force or maybe, the universe was cruel to you) and I am not going to delay you the pleasure of getting to know me any longer.
Readers, brace yourselves, for you are set to embark a dull, boring journey.

Magic, immortality, power, fame and money- these are the words I can never relate to.
Instead, I choose to read about them and pretend to know what it's like to experience them. I lead a dull, monotonous life and I don't mind it one bit. Like every other person, I work to make a living and sometimes, I trespass this line by working to feel alive. Work-life balance is a foreign concept to me since both of these worlds entwine constantly. The one thing which is unique to me is a dragon named Fibromyalgia. Like Daenerys from Game of Thrones, I choose to ride this pain of a dragon, to all its glory.  

For those unfamiliar with fibromyalgia, let me be your guide. Like countless invisible illnesses (diabetes, hypertension, depression, ADHD, etc.), fibromyalgia is one that chooses the best of warriors and puts them to test. Similar to a loving partner, it's so kind and generous and makes sure you never forget its presence. But unlike a loving partner, it chooses to shower you with pain (oh wait, did I say unlike a loving partner? I meant to say just like one, my bad). The pain waxes and wanes almost constantly. On a good day, you feel like you can conquer the world and on the bad days, well, you can con- you cannot even finish your sentence.

Dealing with fibromyalgia is very similar to dealing with a hyperactive 5-year-old high on sugar. You just cannot calm it down. The only time you get a fleeting sense of peace is when you sleep. The sad part is that because it's invisible, it's very easy for people to look past it. Sometimes, this ignorance hurts both me and fibromyalgia. While a good book or a hot cup of coffee consoles me, fibromyalgia takes a more dramatic route. It's very easy to stop doing things that you love because pretty much everything causes you pain. But, just like Augustus Waters, every single day, I choose what gets to hurt me. 
Different people have different ways of coping with pain. Some drink, some choose to rage and what do I do? I work. Work is more than just a distraction for me. It's one of those life-saving drugs that makes me feel alive. On days when I feel like a vegetable, my work makes me feel like I am in fact, needed.

 Work and fibromyalgia aren't the only things I'm made of. Apart from my regular set of organs, flesh, bones and blood, I do have a few other things up my sleeve. I absolutely love reading. Words of any sort give me comfort and I've traveled so many worlds, thanks to them. On a lot of instances, when I come across a very good piece of writing, it inspires me to write something as well. That's when I grab my journal and a pen and let my words bleed. More often than not, they turn out to be mediocre at best and I set my book aside.
One day I hope to be brave enough to let my words be seen by the world. If my words can help even one person, I guess I would've done my part here. Till then, my plan is to laugh as much as I can and make things easier for people, one step at a time.

 Apart from reading, I also spend my time listening to people. You might be thinking if mentioning such a basic thing really necessary. Well, it is. You see, what I've learnt in the past 24 years of my life (wait.. 24, really? Man! I'm old), is that people always crave to be heard. Be it a whiny child or a cranky grandma, everybody wants the same thing. This is where I come in. I try my best to try and make people feel better. Sometimes, I even resort to cracking a few jokes on myself just so people smile.
What I'm doing is nothing special, to be honest. It's just a simple thing- like breathing. Mental health is something that I'm really passionate about and I hope to create a safe space for people to be themselves.

That's about it, for now. I hope I was able to bring in something of no value to you. Have a pleasant day!