Blog
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Why To Use Natural Skin Care Products If You Have A Chronic Illness
Why choose natural skin care products? I’m going to share a quick overview of some of the potential health impacts of chemicals that you’d think are safe—after all, they’re in everyday products like lotion, shampoo, deodorant, and soap. I hope this post is a useful resource for learning more about the ingredients in skin care products so you can choose healthier options, especially if you have a chronic illness.
If you’re already dealing with chronic illness or health issues (like I am—more on that below) it’s even more important to address irritants and triggers that could be contributing to underlying conditions—or just making overall health worse.
And even if you’re healthy, there are many reasons everyone should avoid harmful chemicals lurking in skin care products.
Here’s a quick look at chemicals to avoid, where you can find more research about those chemicals, and resources for finding healthier alternatives.
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How To Throw A Fun And Interactive Virtual Escape Room
I’m excited to share my tips for throwing a fun and interactive virtual escape room! I’ve been wanting to throw a party tied to the discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb for awhile, and an escape room seemed like the perfect fit for my birthday celebration. Getting to play archaeologist and dress like Evie from The Mummy was something I’ve been looking forward to!
Here’s how I made my 1920s-meets-ancient-Egypt party come to life—via Zoom!
These tips can be used by anyone to connect with others from a distance, whether you’re socially distancing or looking for ways to catch up with friends and family who live far away. You could use these tips for customizing in-person escape rooms too.
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My Interview on Unpolished Ponderings
I’m excited to share more of my chronic illness journey and what inspires me creatively in a guest post I was invited to participate in!
Fellow chronic illness blogger Olivia Wolfertz interviewed me over on her blog, Unpolished Ponderings.
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Blogging Without A Picture Perfect Life
There’s so much pressure online to have a picture perfect life and to have every moment Instagramable, that it can be very daunting to think of starting or maintaining a blog. Do you need to have everything put together and looking immaculate in order to share your story online? I’m here to remind myself and others that the answer is “no.” Here are my tips for blogging without a picture perfect life, and how I’m letting go of perfectionism as a chronic illness writer.
I am a perfectionist, or at least someone who’s trying to be less of a perfectionist. My preference would be to wait to share my writing or photography or crafting until I’ve gotten it polished and as close to perfect as possible. But I live with multiple chronic illnesses that greatly limit my energy and ability to accomplish even routine tasks, so even publishing one post on my blog is a challenge. -
December Wrap Up: Preparing For the New Year
Happy New Year! I’m sharing a wrap up post with highlights from my December, including what I made, what I found challenging, and festive photos. Looking back can help us move forward. So I’m reviewing the last month of 2020 before next year’s fresh start.
This post is inspired by A Chronic Voice’s linkup party, which is a way for bloggers to connect and write about similar themes. I’ve decided to write on three of the linkup themes: Beginning, Enduring, and Revealing. I’ve also decided to add two themes of my own: Creating and Celebrating.
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Practical Gift Ideas for Someone with Chronic Illness
I hope this list of practical gifts for chronic illness is a helpful guide, whether you’re looking for Christmas, birthday, or “just because” gift suggestions. I’m also sharing four tips for choosing practical gifts for chronic illness.
My health conditions include fibromyalgia, POTS (a form of dysautonomia), myalgic encephalomyelitis (aka chronic fatigue syndrome), and asthma. I know that it can be challenging to know what will be helpful for those of us dealing with limitations due to our health, especially those of us with a lot of allergies. I’m sharing some things I’ve found particularly helpful, things I’ve been gifted, and things on my wishlist. (You can read more about my health journey here.)
Before we dive into gift suggestions, here are helpful tips for gift giving to keep in mind when your recipient has chronic health conditions.
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How To Stay Connected From A Distance-Holiday Edition
The holiday season is coming, and I want to share some fun and creative ways to stay connected even from a distance. It can be challenging to stay connected while apart. Chronic illness can limit our ability to travel or visit, and risk due to the pandemic adds another layer of restrictions.
Thankfully, technology provides a lot of ways to keep in touch so we’re not isolated. I’m going to share ideas for virtual Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas parties.
I’ve been thankful to be able to meet up with a few friends outdoors in the last month or so for socially distanced get-togethers. Now the weather is getting colder (too cold for this asthmatic to be outdoors here in Washington). So I’m thinking about ways to make virtual get-together’s into holiday parties.
I hope these ideas inspire many fun celebrations!
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Longing for Light: An Example of Mythology Pointing to Jesus
Ever since I was little, I’ve loved reading mythology. The epic stories, heroic deeds, and imaginative worlds captured my imagination and solidified my love for fantasy books. But even better is when you can tell there is a beautiful truth underlying myths. I want to explore an example of mythology pointing to Jesus and how every human heart longs for light to vanquish darkness—a timeless theme of good overcoming evil.
I love when mythology points out a universal theme. In dark times, we ache for the arrival of dawn.
This seems especially relevant right now, as we’re all longing for a little more light in the world. Things have been pretty dark lately, what with the pandemic, racial injustice, divisiveness and more. So where can we turn as we’re looking for light?
Tricky Characters and Myths about Light
The examples from mythology I want to look at all tell the story of rebel gods stealing fire or light to bring it down to earth.
