I think you may have misunderstood me - although it's not a bad idea to keep perspective, I actually think a nice go around with some self-pity can be helpful. You have the feelings of sadness, anger, etc., you have reason to have those feelings because it within the context of your life, there are real issues related to the RA and taking some time to experience these feelings can help you work through them so you can move on. However, I usually tell myself that whereas I shouldn't wallow in self-pity, it's okay to take a good swish in the self-pity pool in it every now and again! Write angst-filled poetry, have a good cry with some chocolate and then dust yourself off and get back to living your life.   Living with the unpredictability of this disease can be very difficult - I call it living under the shoe (as in, waiting for the other shoe to drop). You have to live with a sort of willful blindness, and assume that you'll be okay, live as if you'll be okay and in every now and again, when the RA flares up, you deal with that and when you get out on the other side, you go back to what you were doing. It means you do it in sort of fits and starts, but the important thing is that you do it, right?   I would love to hear more about your art and I bet other users would find it interesting and possibly inspiring, as well. I'd encourage you to write a SharePosts about your experience with RA in how you continue to create and be an artist.