New Year 2014: Looking Ahead and Leaving The Past in The Past

The past few weeks I've been thinking a lot about how much my health has improved over the last 18 months, and how I've continued to learn to manage my symptoms to keep me "on a level" as it were. This involves pacing, eating right and getting good sleep. Finding balance out lives is something we all strive to do, whether or not we are "spoonies". I have come to the conclusion that I don't want my symptoms to define me anymore. Yes, they will always be there, but I want to get out and live my life, I'll be 31 in January and I feel like I am missing out on life experiences, however small. I have a list of things I want to do and places I want to visit, and I also plan to step out of my comfort zone a bit more in 2014 and confront my social anxiety, whilst also being kind to myself and not overdoing it.

So what does all this mean for this blog? I want to share more of my daily "spoonie" life with you, and stop getting bogged down with lengthy posts about how chronic my illness is. I tweeted a picture the other night of my "weekly cook-up" which is an exercise I do about once a week to make sure my freezer is stocked up with easy to prepare food. I don't have energy to waste on doing this daily, so I do it in a batch.

So I could make a little post about that. Practical stuff, knowledge and tips that I can pass on. Basically what I intended this blog to be about in the first place.

I'm rambling. What I'm trying to say is that, whilst I will always have my symptoms, they don't define who I am, and they shouldn't for you either. We are all human underneath, and we are more than just our illnesses.

I will continue to refer to myself as a "spoonie" but only in the correct context. I will continue to pace, eat mindfully and keep good sleep hygiene, just as someone who has asthma continues to use their inhaler-as a tool to manage symptoms. Nothing more dramatic than that.

This is my life and this is who I am, and I intend to embrace that in 2014.

Happy New Year everybody!

It's Okay To Be Happy With A Calm Life : Quote Wall Art

When I first came across this quote I found it very reassuring and comforting, and I now use it as a sort of mantra in my everyday life.
Some people like to go out and socialise a lot, with ME/CFS I find that hard, I also don't enjoy it very much because of my anxiety. There are certain familiar social situations in which I am comfortable, but not very many. My small amount of disposable income means I can rarely take trips out by myself either.
However, I don't want to come across as self-pitying, and this is the whole point of the art work, the fact that "it's okay to be happy with a calm life". I am perfectly happy sitting at home listening to the radio and knitting, absorbing myself in a good book, or even making art!
We don't all have to be social butterflies, some of us are quiet types and some of us are louder and bolder and that wide variety is what makes the world a lovely place.

When us spoonies are frustrated that we can't do things, or annoyed by having to pace, this quote reminds us that it's okay to rest, and we know it will benefit us in the long run, we have nothing to feel guilty about.

CFS Progress Review: October 2012

I'm a bit late publishing this. I actually wasn't going to blog at all this month, simply becasue there's not actually that much new for me to tell you right now. I am keeping up with my daily practices of eating well, staying hydrated, working mindfully and exercising, plus a myriad of other things that I have mentioned previously in more detail. Nothing is perfect all the time, I don't eat right every day for example, but I know when my body needs something as it just tells me. I feel very "tuned in" now and that helps me to combat any "under the weather" feelings I might have. My body also tells me in no uncertain terms when it's had enough and it's time for me to rest-very important!

I am taking some time off work the next couple of weeks. I plan to use the time to be highly creative, and also focus on my self care. I am planning to spend a lot of the time in silence, or with peaceful music in the background, and live simply, leaving the hustle and bustle of everyday life behind, at least for a few days. I am hoping to be able to have a few 24 hour periods of digital sabbaticals too-that means no internet! I tried this last Monday and read an entire book-lovely!

As I am writing this in November, the end of this month and the beginning of December brings a lot of CFS related milestones along for me. I will be blogging about this in more detail next time, that post might just be a tad longer than this one!

Take care for now :) x

Art Studio Makeover: Creative CFS Recovery

Have you ever heard the phrase, "my head's a shed"? In my current situation, use it a lot. But instead of it being a metaphor, today I am blogging about a real "shed" which, when I'd tidied it all, actually helped me to think a lot more clearly about where I want my future with (and hopefully after) CFS/ME to take me. And in time-honoured fashion, here are the classic "before" and "after" photographs.

The full photo-journal of my craft room makeover can be found on my Flickr.

Now I have a tidy space in which to create. I can now motivate myself to do little bits here and there and in being creative, enhance my recovery process.

Each day I meet more creative people who have the same illness as me; it feels good to know I am not alone and there are people out there who really are EXACTLY like me.