Share the activities or hobbies that have brought you joy and served as a source of motivation, and how they have positively impacted your life amidst the challenges of Parkinson’s.
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I started gardening again. Swimming and hiking with my family is great too
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I’ve always loved hiking, and here in Colorado. There are plenty of opportunities for it. I’ve always loved hiking, and here in Colorado. There’s plenty of opportunity for it. While I am on the trail, I like to take photos and make videos. I have a couple of cameras that I really want to get to know. I also have some pretty nifty lenses in the bag.
Camping is something I also enjoy. The photo below shows my favorite spot. Right behind the campsite is a river, and the site is about 150 feet off the continental divide trail. I hope to get out there sometime in August!
Let’s throw creativity in there. Aside from the photography, I also enjoy painting. I’d like to use different size, canvases, and very colors, with a technique called acrylic pouring. I’ve had some really nice results, and I’ve had some things I just scrape off into the trash! Example below!
Throw in sewing, jewelry making, and my puppy dog, Breck, and things are pretty busy.
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Wow that is so gorgeous. I never liked hiking or camping but now that I know I need to keep moving I’ve gotten more into it
Having been forced to give up work a few years ago I’ve tried all sorts of things to fill my time from baking to joining a choir plus painting, gardening, fishing, tai chi, charity work, genealogy and there’s more!
However my main source of support and joy has come from poetry. I did write a little bit back in my teens but not for another 45 years while I was busy with my career. Then suddenly I found myself using the written word to try to understand what was happening to me. I discovered other poets with Parkinson’s online and discovered that a surge of creativity is another one of those symptoms that some of us share.
I now write most days and am co-founder of the Poets with Parkinson’s poetry collective. I host an online open mike night and have performed at local events as a “shaken word artist”. I also volunteer with Parkinson’s UK and am helping them to edit and publish a new collection of poems that were written for World Parkinson’s Day this year.
Here’s a sample of my work:
Our Bond
We are suave secret agents with Parkinson’s disease
Our symptoms the villains and sometimes we freeze
We are shaken not stirred at the spectre ahead
Though our words may be slurred Dr knows what we said
With our gadgets and allies we carry on still
Cause we’re bright and we’re brilliant and we’re licensed to spill
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I love poetry! Lovely poem. On our honeymoon my husband took me to the home of Pablo Neruda. This is one of my favorites of his:
He who does not travel, who does not read,
who does not listen to music,
who does not find grace in himself,
she who does not find grace in herself,
dies slowly.
“Die Slowly” by Pablo Neruda
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Hey Cindy, we need to hook up and go hiking. Can’t wait to meet you in person at E3.
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What is E3 @akmcbee?
I still love playing guitar when I can and the mood strikes me. It’s pretty tough though because not only are my hands not cooperating many times but also it’s really tough to maintain rhythm because I’m stiff.
I also enjoy messing around with writing software. It sounds kind of funny, but programming is like my poetry. 
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My husband is part of a Parkinson’s boxing group here in Birmingham, AL called PD Fight Club. It’s been a game changer!!
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I love punching on bag!!!
I enjoy cooking, and reading. I have been doing some gardening to stay active, and I enjoy it. I’m planning on getting some bonsai, and learning about them. I used to embroider, but with the tremor, it’s just too difficult. I also enjoy bird watching, and feeding them. I’m trying to find new hobbies and interests.
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I was a gardener by occupation but also a musician unable to maintain my guitar playing whish was my main way of songwriting, i built a small recording studio im my back garden.
It has taken around 3 years to learn the basic principles of recording but it allows me to continue my musical journey.
I try to ride my indoor bicycle at least twice a day. This seems to be the only thing that helps with some of my body stiffness. Looking into rowing machines for my upper body flexibility.
I was very athletic and loved cycling, windsurfing and skiing as well as other water sports. Moving to central Florida definitely has limited my ability to do these things. Well honestly pd, bone tumor and prostate cancer have caused my laziness.
Indoor cycling and ac are my new active hobbies.
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