Having photography as a hobby

has really saved my life those last years. I have this condition called fibromyalgia and because of it, my life has really been on hold for the last 3 years. Before that I had gradually been getting worse, but after Christmas 2008 I kind of collapsed into a world of never ending tiredness. No matter how much I rested, I was always exhausted. No matter how much I tried to exercise, eat healthy, get enough sleep, take vitamins etc. I always felt as if I had the flue. I woke up exhausted in the morning, went to work aching in my body and so tired I could hardly stand on my feet, and when I came home the couch was my best friend. Well, not all the days were as bad, but this is the general picture. The usual blood test showed nothing that could explain my symptoms, and I was getting pretty desperate. Last summer I saw a doctor in Norway, who sent my blood examples to USA, where it was tested for food intolerances (amongst other things). This showed that I was intolerant against milk products, eggs, gluten and yeast. I have now been on a different diet since october, and in the beginning, felt a vast change for the better. But then I over exerted my self at work in December, and again I am struggling with fatigue, although not at the same level as before.

And now I'm finally getting to the main point of this story... During this dreadful time, I continued to enjoy photography as a hobby. Sometimes on bad days, I would go out with my camera, only for a very short time, but it really made a huge difference for me. For the first, I was out in the Nature, breathing fresh air, and for the second, I relaxed and forgot everything else when I had the camera in my hands.

Today I came home from work and was very tired. All I could do was sit and read the newspaper at the kitchen table. Already dreading the workday tomorrow, and the fact that I have only Sunday for recuperation, before the next work week. But then I had to go to the groceries store, and, thinking of the blip of the day, I decided to bring my camera with me. When I had planted the camera on the tripod, and waited for the exposure to finish, breathing the cold air, I was suddenly overwhelmed by gratitude for this wonderful hobby, as I realized I would probably have lost my mind if not for it.