Anyone who has ever traveled down cancer's long and crappy road has spent time in the Land of Confusion. Lots and lots of time. I stumbled upon a perfect visual depiction of this crazy cancer land, and thought I'd share it.
There is a sweet website called theydrawandtravel.com, where artists the world over submit map illustrations of their travels; that's how I discovered this simply awesome drawing, simply entitled "State of Confusion" by artist Deer Prudence from Berlin, Germany.
It is the ideal metaphor for cancer.
After all, who among us hasn't stepped off The Beaten Path, fallen Out of Range, not seen The Woods for the Trees, gotten lost in the Sands of Time, wadded in Fake Lake, crossed the Plain Impossible, visited Villain Village, landed Somewhere Else, swam for our lives in Sea Me, tried in vain to Sea You, felt like an Ugly Fish, nearly drown on Cape Rain, fallen down Cave In, made (or been the butt of) Shallow Jokes or pitched a tent in Underwater City?
We all have. Cancer or no cancer, we can all relate.
Deer Prudence (and They Draw and Travel), you hit a home run with this one! Though you may have intended it to be a guide on how to get lost, you have in fact put into images what so many of us that deal with cancer feel. You are a Source of Inspiration, for sure. Your illustration is plain, pure, unbridled perfection!
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dear Renn, so sorry for being late in responding. I started my internal radiation, still recovering from 5 weeks of external radiation, and when I read this post I was definitely in the Land of Confusion - could NOT coax a single cogent thought out of my hassled and harried brain. the wonderful map done by Deer Prudence is a perfect guide to many of the places I have been, and to those I've not yet encountered. do I dare to hope that I will not have fallen out of range, nor land somewhere else? oh, yeah, I forgot - been there, done that. one can see why the title of the map is so aptly named: "THE LAND OF CONFUSION"! this is a great post and, indeed, a perfect metaphor for the bucket of fuckedness named CANCER. glad you rolled it out again.
ReplyDeletemuch love and light, xoxoxox
karen
Karen, thanks for stopping by. I have been thinking about you. I'm glad to hear that part of the radiation regiment is completed. I hope this next phase is not too harsh. Holding you in my heart!!
DeleteRenn, I don't even know if I was aware of your blog when you originally ran this, but I would say you also hit a home run. The land of confusion. Cancer really is that land. It's like the world caved in that fateful day of diagnosis, and I haven't been able to understand the world since. Thank you for this wonderful post; I can see why it was popular when it first ran.
ReplyDeleteBeth, I agree — the artist really nailed it… and they weren't even talking about cancer when they drew it! Deer Prudence is a dear. As are you!
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