What Happened While I was Missing In Action

by Peta-Ann Smith
What Happened While I was Missing in Action
 
It’s been a while since my last post (far too much of a while, to be quite honest), and that was never my intention. Believe me. Quite a lot has happened between then and now, both career-wise and health wise. To be honest, it was these aspects in tandem that made me be MIA for so long. The best place to start any story is at the beginning, so let’s get going.
 

It was all a dream

Back in July 2015, I began an apprenticeship at a small local animation studio. With the Jamaican animation industry taking root, I jumped on it like a starving dog. I would be:
 
· learning animation from seasoned industry professionals,
 
· gaining work experience in a studio setting, and
 
· earning a monthly stipend after long periods without a steady income.
 
Plus, the stipend meant that I could eat lunch again. Compared to expensive overseas colleges, this was a dream come true – at first.

And then there were storm clouds

Within the first two-three weeks, I suffered horrible muscle strains in my neck and upper back. The injuries primarily on the left side but the impact was immense. My tall frame was defenseless against the ergonomic nightmare that was my workstation. The pain was searing and relentless; to top it off, I’d hear a sound like a truck on a gravel road whenever I’d turn my head. Not to mention the wave of pain that would strike with that movement. Speaking of my head, the simple act of holding that up took tremendous effort – my neck felt as stable as a cooked noodle. Coupled with my autoimmune condition, it was a match made in pure Hell. Studio work became a daily torture. Working on my own projects after work (doing anything after work)? Impossible. The effect on my illustration career was tremendous; the quality of my work plummeted due to the pain. Worse yet, I lost two potential clients in the process. To this day I worry about the impact on my professional reputation. Jamaica is small, and the local illustration market is smaller – I have good reason to worry.

Adventures in Grinning and Bearing

I did my best to manage the pain, determine the extent of the damage, and go about my life:
 
· I took prescription-strength painkillers, which had little impact.
 
· I then had an MRI done, which showed next to nothing while costing me a fat mint.
 
I ended up seeking physiotherapy in September 2015, which took most of the edge off pain-wise. Praises be for that, at least. It bought me a bit of a reprieve, but only so much. After all, I still had to deal with the Furniture from Hell at work. Nothing would ever improve unless that changed, and I knew it wouldn’t. For the sake of my health and career prospects, I had to make a firm decision. Thus, on June 30, 2017, I resigned from the animation studio and went on my own. I had savings and no prospects for earning on a regular basis, but I had a more pressing priority – healing.
 
 
After resting a few weeks, I visited a pain specialist in August 2017 and I’ve been in treatment since. Mind you, not a single bit of this has been cheap. But health is wealth, as they say. In any case, I’ve been seeing and experiencing steady improvements over time.
 
 
Which was the whole point. I’m still in therapy, though not as frequent as before, and I’m working Pilates into the mix. It hasn’t been easy since I hate this summer heat and love my bed, but it’s part of the strengthening process. I also tried to apply for health insurance, but they denied me like Peter denied Christ. To be blunt about it, I’m too sick and expensive for coverage – which neither surprised me nor my pocket. It still hurt, though.

A light in the tunnel

All hasn’t been doom and gloom, praises be. Career-wise, I focused on my 3D animation training (more on that later). That ended in November 2017, and being off work allowed me to rest and recover better. Learn better too, to be honest. Speaking of learning, I also dusted off an online business course and gave that attention. I need to get a better handle of that part of working in a creative field; can’t be all sketches and paint, you know.
 
So, that’s the past two or so years of my life in a nutshell. Besides telling you what’s been going on between my last post and this one, I want to hear from you. Have you ever been at a crossroads in your career and life? If so, what was it and how did you tackle it?
Peta-Ann Smith
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