Image by Aarón Blanco Tejedor.

Can I turn pain into wisdom? I suppose that’s what I’m trying to do right now, as I sit with a notebook on my lap. I’m not feeling optimistic that I’ll succeed.

One of the inconveniences in my life these days is called gout, a condition – in my right knee – that absolutely lives up to the negativity of its name. Ongoing ouch. Careful, careful. I’ve had it on and off for a couple of years now, and recently it started getting worse. Indeed, getting around with the help of a cane – whom I had named Citizen Cane – no longer felt sufficiently safe. I started using a walker.

Citizen Cane, meet Klunky Walker!

I also wound up getting a cortisone shot in the knee, which had significantly eased the pain in the past. But this time, oh my God, that’s not what........

© CounterPunch