Meet Cody Rounds

We recently connected with Cody Rounds and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Cody , appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

My resiliency was earned through a battle to defy the odds, and a grueling six year-long struggle with hopelessness, self-doubt, and grief. I am overcoming an ‘incurable’ yet completely disabling chronic illness thanks to my dogged determination and belief in myself. 



I’ve always had what I refer to as a ‘border collie’ personality type: extremely high achieving, challenge-seeking, lazer-focused, and no ‘off’ switch. Choosing to pursue fine art as a career was just another way to give myself an ‘impossible’ challenge. It was going well, until 2018, when I started to experience odd health issues in seemingly unrelated areas in my body. It seemed every week another problem would pop up. One day I woke up and could barely get out of bed due to a crippling fatigue unlike anything I had ever felt. This came with concerning neurological complications, like an inability to recall words, double vision, and sensory issues. I figured it would past, but it never did.

This is when my life fell apart. 

I had developed Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis), a poorly-understood ‘invisible’ illness. It took me over two years to get this diagnosis, because most doctors don’t know anything about it. They ran bloodwork and scans, but CFS/ME is a neuro-immune condition and doesn’t show up on the typical tests. In those two years most medical professionals turned me away or suggested that I was fabricating my symptoms. “Did you try Xanax?” Some of my closest friends and family even doubted my experience. One doctor suspiciously looked at me and said, “You are clearly self-educated about many conditions…” Yes, when you are completely disabled and nobody seems to be able to help you for two years, you self-educate.



Thank god I did, because I am no longer considered disabled. 



Everyone around me told me to quit but I continued pushing, trying doctor after doctor knowing most of them had me marked in their files as a hypochondriac. Eventually one steered me to a CFS/ME specialist who immediately validated everything I had gone through and ran several tests, all which came back positive, and promptly diagnosed me. This came with the grim news that recovery is extremely rare and they can only offer me minor improvements. Expectation management was key, I was told. They suggested I begin the paperwork for government disability benefits.



There is a grisly saying about CFS/ME. “The good news is you’re not going to die. The bad news is you’re not going to die.” So I can’t live, but I can’t die…This *is* a death sentence to someone like me. Growing up I was promised a life, and had dreamed accordingly. Now I was being told that it was over. This is when I made a decision: I will accept the diagnosis but will reject the sentence. Just because they don’t know the answer doesn’t mean there isn’t one, and I wouldn’t stop until I found it.



Alongside my doctors treatments and supervision, I started doing my own research The little energy I had was dedicated to deciphering scientific articles, pouring through case studies, and researching alternative modalities. I even enrolled myself in a college neuroscience program to learn information that I could apply to my condition. I started to uncover more and was able to find additional treatments that helped.



Today I have a wonderful family and thriving business as a professional fine artist. I live a full and active life that doctors told me would be impossible. I am still on my way to full recovery, but I no longer qualify under the CFS/ME diagnostic criteria and my condition holds me back less every day. It has not come easy, but I made it happen.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’m a fine artist based in northern New Jersey and the Hudson Valley of New York. I specialize in painting, but also love working in contemporary multimedia with conceptual content. For the past couple of years I’ve been doing art at weddings and events as a live painter. I go to an event and capture the atmosphere on canvas while guests get to watch and interact. It’s a novel experience for guests and an exciting addition to any event. I also do guest portraits, where each guest gets a custom portrait in watercolor. It’s a quick, gestural rendition that takes about 4 minutes per person that acts as a favor your guests will actually want! That one is a real crowd pleaser and great addition for a baby shower, bridal shower, corporate event activation, or private party. My team and I just did portraits for a local university event activation for their students and we are doing them for a 50th birthday party favor next week. For more of why live painting is a unique and classy wedding and event idea, see more at www.codypaints.com

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Three qualities that were impactful in my journey have been

1) Determination: I look at determination as an ability to maintain forward direction while experiencing self-doubt. Sometimes you need to choose to be determined, even when everything around you says you shouldn’t be.

2) Creativity: To me, creativity is the most important quality for success in any situation. Creativity makes you flexible and able to adapt when pressure hits. Think outside the box! Nobody ever changed the world by doing the same thing everyone else did.

3) Mindfulness: Mindfulness is a super power. It’s the ability to experience without judgment or building a story. In those times when our brain’s are spinning out of control with fear and anxiety, mindfulness lets us gain control over that cycle and focus on the present (and find solutions) instead of imagined futures. It does need to be consistently practiced to be effective, but it will change your life.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

The most impactful thing my parents did was allow me to face challenges. Overcoming challenges builds confidence, and when parents ‘protect’ their children from experiencing struggle, they are actually robbing them of the opportunity to build self-confidence and resiliency. I was drowning in self-doubt and hopelessness when I began my journey to healing. Now, if someone tells me I can’t do something, I simply don’t believe them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.codypaints.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/codyroundsstudio
• Facebook: https://calendly.com/cody-codypaints/pre-event-consultation
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cody-rounds-829198b7?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app

Image Credits

Bill Cardoni