There is a constant knot in the pit of my stomach. Hidden in the dark murky place where emotions mix and churn as they evade logic and reason. Holding onto one end of the knot is the person I am now, tugging at the other end is the person I want to be. Accepting I have to let go of the person I want to be is in theory the pathway towards the chronic illness jackpot of psychological flexibility.
Author Archives: gvnett
Black Lives Matter
Unable to attend #BlackLivesMatter protests but want to find a way to support the movement take a look at the range of options compiled by Black Lives Matter Australia. I also recommend taking a look at a great article by By Wilhelmina Jenkins – Unseen: Black people living with ME
ME Wishes
A friend calls you. After you say, “hello.” The friend replies, “you don’t have to tell me. I can hear it in your voice.” What would you hope friends and family could intuitively understand about what you’re going through?
#MillionsMissing
I actually thought I was used to being missing, that I’d found a way to adjust to my reality. I honestly thought it would only take a few minutes to fill out the #MMSelfies form as part of the millions missing campaign for ME/CFS Awareness Day. The form developed by Emerge Australia asked for a response to a simple question – What are you missing from?
Serious ME/CFS Contributors
There are so many amazing people around the world working on ME/CFS research, advocacy and community support. The first site I will highlight is How to get on. Its incredibility informative especially for those in the USA and its also beautifully illustrated.
Reaching for something, over and over again
Two things can be true, I can empathise deeply with peoples loss and at the same time feel the sting of watching others mourn what has been lost to me for so long. Those of us who have been housebound for a while understand their grief and bewilderment that this could be their lives now, so small, so confined, everything tantalising just out of reach.
The Dark Parts
In the midst of such a world-wide crisis I’ve been struggling with how to put my own fears into perspective. To have any sense of objectivity about where my situation fits along the scale of – be kind to yourself, it’s a lot and get over yourself, you have so much to be grateful for.
Who am I and why am I doing this
There has never been a good time to have ME/CFS but there has definitely been less stressful times to have a chronic condition and an uncooperative immune system that continues to have an open door policy despite my objections.
A link in the chain. If you are so inclined
When you have a chronic condition that separates you from the world there is enormous comfort in sameness. With so little energy it’s hard to know how to find a way to help others but we can help each other by sharing our stories.