Dancing with Monsters: Chronic Illness as Creative Transformation - Paperback

by Kate Wolfe-Jenson (Author)

This is a book about monsters. Not the cute, laughably incompetent ones you see in animated movies, but the ones you meet in your own life: ugly thoughts, unexpected losses, inexcusable evils.At age twenty, Kate Wolfe-Jenson had already discovered her monster-mind. She was an expert at negative thinking and expecting disaster. Then she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Together, the monsters whipped her into a wild dance, MS tapping out fear and sadness and her monster-mind twirling it into depression, rage and grief. It seemed like the monsters would win. A decade after being diagnosed, she discovered that what she knew about the creative process could help her deal with the frustrations of living with chronic illness (and life in general). Through that understanding, she entered into a dance with illness and healing, rather than running from them.Through memoir, essay and fanciful stories, this book explores the landscape of chronic illness, describes its contours and invites you onto the dance floor.

Author Biography

At age twenty, Kate Wolfe-Jenson planned to save the world (and get rich and famous and look good doing it). Instead, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. She has spent the last two decades exploring the creative process and how it can help her face the monsters of negative thinking and failing health. She lives in Minnesota with her husband and daughter.