Joe’s Journal: Day 46 – Joe or Forrest Gump?

As much as I was still enjoying the processes of both Rebooting and making a movie, I had also started to feel a little bit like Forrest Gump making his way across the country, telling his story to all who would listen – on park benches, in laundromats, in parking lots, coffee shops, on street corners, in gun shops. I had gone from being a guy who’d spent the last nine or so years trying to conceal the fact that he had a chronic illness, trying to cover up his expanding belly by wearing loose-fitting shirts that resembled tents, to stopping random strangers to tell them about my urticaria and show them pictures of myself at my fattest. My grandmother, rest her soul, would have been pleased that the Catholic in me, needing to confess, was finding a lot of listeners.

There was something liberating about sharing my story. My progress felt real, and the look on everyone’s face when I showed them what I looked like 46 days ago was priceless.

Have you been following my past journal entries? Make sure you catch up here.  I’m sharing these thoughts with you as part of the 2nd Anniversary celebration of Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead so I hope you are either able to relate or be inspired by my journal entries.