NARRATIVE MEDICINE.

“There is so much power in soft spoken words” … Ololade Ajayi 2022. save this quote!

It is said, that the difference between sympathy and empathy is the “feel” One says; I know what you feel, while the other says; I feel what you feel. you can guess which heals the heart faster. Simply put, what narrative medicine seeks to do is to put a humane face to the practice of medicine.

Narrative medicine helps medical practitioners and patients to better understand their illness in the context of their entire life experience. Human experiences are interconnected and that is why we can relate with stories about others. Below is a poem I wrote titled WOMANITY, which sorts of marks my sojourning into Bibliotherapy and Narrative medicine and I hope you can relate with it.

ENJOY!

WOMANITY

This is how we walk; holding hands side by side,

in a manner similar to the UBUNTU

Because when the weakest link is out and we are infiltrated, we die.

We die when we walk alone by dark alleys even though we have to go out

We die, when our bodies are intruded upon even though our eyes are still open

We die when we do not speak up, so despite the fear of losing our voice we must speak.

This is how we school; we school in droves, choosing courses that helps navigate the reasons why we die in childbearing!!!

Courses that will help to document our history while owning narratives and directing conversations about our bodies,

Hence Narrative Medicine.

This is how we survive; by grabbing little sister’s hand and running away after we are abused,

Because we don’t want her to live through the horrors we lived through

Because we know! we know that her soul is already bent by a mother’s loss

and a single touch will break it.

This is why we we fight; we fight for love for passion, for faith, for rights, for chances, and everything in between, we are termed aggressors but still we fight, we fight because this is the only way we know.

This is how we rise; by extending a hand to other women, after ours had been held by other women across continents who looked into our faces while assuring us about absolute trust in our abilities.

This is how we thrive; we thrive when fear isn’t part of our daily diet plan

And so we bloom, setting small fragrances of hope into the hopeless that germinates into gigantic wands of Humanity

Because we are Womanity,

You are Womanity!