Joy is not a word most would associate with pain but for Eastern Shore author Ellen Schecter living with two autoimmune disorders required retooling her mindset to begin to understand that it is possible to be sick without suffering.
Schecter’s memoir Fierce Joy, a Medical Mystery, Spiritual Adventure and Love Story, is Chesapeake Forum’s choice for its second Local Author series on Wednesday, March 22nd at the Peachblossom YMCA. In it, Schecter recounts how she had to learn to live with her conditions as a mature woman, revisiting childhood trauma around her father’s multiple illnesses and her misunderstandings about disease and death. She found that her childhood experiences impacted how she was able to manage her illness, including a fear of needles which affected her ability to self-administer daily shots needed to keep her conditions in check. How she eventually learned to do that is one of the many stories in this book that illustrate Schecter’s incredible drive and determination to have as much of a normal life as possible.
In Schecter’s telling, fierce joy is not an easy, saccharine happiness but the joy that flames up out of harsh circumstances. Her message is that you don’t need to feel helpless when you get sick. It may not be possible to control your body but you can control your responses to it and to what disease does to your body. Schecter shares how she educated herself, found appropriate medication, created cooperative relationships with her doctors and generally, refused to be “squelched”. As she says, “we can decide how to live now – differently.”
Fierce Joy, Chesapeake Forum’s Author Series, is one (1) session from 10-11:30 a.m., Wednesday, March 22nd, in-person at the Peachblossom YMCA, ZOOM or recording. $15.00. To register, please visit https://chesapeakeforum.org.
Chesapeake Forum is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing lifelong learning opportunities to residents of the Eastern Shore. To receive Chesapeake Forum’s newsletter, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.