Turtle Dancing, Slowly Healing

UNBOUND. Twenty bodies, one thread of movement creating a short dance film, premiering on July 29th. Created by individuals living with ME/CFS and/or Long COVID.

Jul 22, 2026

My artist friend Sara Nesson invited me to join twenty others in a dance project celebrating the many guises of chronic disease. I said yes. Then wondered why—for I was in the middle of another surprise visit of Long COVID symptoms of brain fog and exertion fatigue. Now, almost a year later, the film is premiering, and I am healing, a bit each day.

Back in 2022 and 2023, I was sleeping over twelve hours a day, piling unopened mail in a teetering stack, daily walks gone, blogs unwritten, friends not called. Sara was one of several women with ME/CFS who told me to rest, and rest some more.

Rest. To go slow. Then slower, made palpable and somehow a sacred act because Sara said I now belonged to the Turtle Society.

Slowly, my dance, hard to visualize in my non-dancer brain, formed into a very short combo of movements. When I read the description of this project the why became clear: "Constraint. Expression. Stillness. Vitality."

It was difficult. It was not as I’d rehearsed or visualized it. In stills from the film I see my neck muscles are tight with nervousness, my mouth pursed in concentration.

Yet I kept moving that September day when I finally felt well enough and my husband filmed me, up against a deadline, Sara always understanding there is no real control.

Though I know I was changed by saying Yes to dancing—I keep writing, creating and researching and am blessedly, slowly gaining back energy and muscle. My memory is better since following the advice of my Integrative Health doctor. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if tight muscles and pursed mouth are part of me when I write, as I choose which colored pencil to use on one of my B&W photos, attempt to glue down the last loose pieces on my first handmade book or think about finishing that collage stashed in the drawer. It goes with the constraint/expression, push and pull of creating something new.

Thank you for reading this update of last September’s Turtle, Dancing; you may want to read other creatives on Substack involved in the creation of UNBOUND: Sara Nesson Sara Nesson, Kim Warner Kimberly Warner, Amy S. Amy - The Tonic, Chimére L. Sweeney Chimére L. Sweeney, Mary McIntyre Mary McIntyre, Molly Freedenberg Molly Freedenberg