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Snapshot Journal: Spring Is Here
I love that recording just a brief snapshot of what I’ve been up to has been an attainable, rewarding goal. I’ve enjoyed looking back at my previous snapshot posts.
This practice seems especially helpful for those of us with chronic illness who enjoy journaling. I’m finally recovering from a bad ME/CFS flare that sent me to bed for most of five days and then lingered for over two weeks longer, so I wanted to spend some time reflecting on good things.
I hope this post inspires you to create a snapshot journal of your own. Feel free to adjust it to fit your own interests and energy levels.
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Snapshot Journal: What I’m Doing Currently
I’m back with recommendations of books, shows, and more that I’ve been enjoying, along with an update on me.
I took a blogging break for a few months because I received new medical diagnoses and had to have surgery in July. I also went through a time where there was concern that my cancer had recurred, but results from my surgery came back clear, praise God.
I didn’t feel like writing about these challenges at the time. And I also didn’t feel like blogging without addressing them because it felt like I would be denying my reality and the affect it was having on me.
I share this as a reminder that if you have a chronic illness or blog about chronic illness, we don’t have to share things right away. And we don’t have to share everything if it doesn’t feel helpful.
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Snapshot Journal: What I’m Doing Currently
I wanted to try a new kind of blog post where I create a list showing a snapshot of what I’ve been doing lately. I’m recording what I’ve been enjoying to celebrate the little things and practice gratitude.
This list is partly drawn from this blog post by Gillian Parlane about documenting and remembering the little things. I’ve been reading her blog after enjoying her TED Talk: Change Your Closet, Change Your Life.
My snapshot journal is also partly inspired by what I’m learning about neuroplasticity and health.
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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.
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Ups And Downs: Summer, Chronic Illness, and a New Normal
Hello friends, I’m so excited to be able to join A Chronic Voice’s link up this month. Summer is finally here, but unfortunately, that doesn’t mean a vacation from chronic illness. So I’m going to share what I’ve found helpful and how I’m coping with the new normal.
This link up is a way for chronic illness bloggers to connect by writing posts based on the same prompts. I found it so helpful last month to use the prompts as a jumping off point to not only write a blog post, but also to do some journaling for myself to process everything going on in the world and my own life.
This month, I’m using the prompts to share a little bit about what I’ve been up to lately creatively, what I’ve been struggling with healthwise, and how I’m continuing to adjust to the new normal.
The prompts for this month are Bothering, Demanding, Telecommunicating, Tolerating, and Nourishing.
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Mid-Year Reflections In A Year Of Pandemic: June Linkup
I can’t believe it’s been over a year since I joined A Chronic Voice’s linkup for the first time! I’ve been meaning to join this way for chronic illness bloggers to connect since, but life intervened (aka symptoms have severely limited my writing time). This month, I was thrilled that not only did I have the mental bandwidth to participate, but also that the prompts aligned with several things bouncing around in my head. Chronic illness in a pandemic presents its own unique challenges. (PS here’s my last linkup post.)
I hope you all are doing as well as you can be. Those of you who love the sunshine, I hope that you are also enjoying the warmer days. I love that the weather will be warmer (in upper 60s or 70s) for about three days, and then rainy for two days—this gives me a good dose of vitamin D when I can sit and walk a little outside.
The rain gives me a break from feeling like I *have* to get outside; we call that pressure to soak up as much warmth as we can “sun guilt” in the Pacific Northwest. The cottonwood trees had the air filled with tufts of white that looked like slow-drifting snow up until recently. Everything is blooming early, including my beauty bush, which is covered in bees and hummingbirds. (Ok, I’ve seen THREE hummers at once, so not exactly “covered!”)
In the world beyond my yard, things are moving ahead as Washington counties move into Phase 2 of coming out of quarantine/social distancing. (My county was added to the list June 5.) High risk populations are to “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” through Phase 3. I’ll talk more about this below.
Let’s dive in. The themes for this month are Searching, Hoping, Honoring, Traumatizing, and Responding.
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The Story Behind My New Blog Name: Starlight through the Storm
Ta-da! You may have noticed that my blog has a new logo as well as a new name! I thought I’d share a behind-the-scenes look at the inspiration behind both. I hope this will give you more insight into what you’ll find on my blog, as well as help you know a little more about the person who runs it.
I’ve literally been trying to pick a name before I even started blogging—over two years ago! (Yep, my blog had its anniversary in March and I kinda let it slip by. Oops!) I’m sure glad I didn’t wait until I had the “perfect” name picked before I started my blogging journey. (I think you should dive into blogging even if you don’t feel 100% ready.)
From poems to PR pieces, the titles have always been a challenge for me. So I’ve been brainstorming (for, ahem, years)…how to choose a blog name that sums up living with chronic illness, and not just surviving but thriving? I wanted to choose a name that sounded specific enough but was also broad enough that it would allow me to talk about all the things that bring me joy when my health turns life upside down—such as my faith, my love of words (and books!) and creativity.
Here’s the story behind coming up with a name for this blog, and why it’s special to me.
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Create a Laughter as Medicine Kit
This post is all about ideas for adding more laughter to your life!
While laughter may or may not be the best medicine, it sure can make a difference.
I’ve been compiling a list of things that make me laugh, and it’s turned into a kind of first aid kit for making me feel better. Being intentional about cultivating joy and laughter has been even more important to me since I’ve been dealing with multiple chronic illnesses as well as chronic pain. Maybe you’re dealing with similar health challenges, or just looking for tips to improve your wellbeing. So I’m going to share ideas with you so you can make your own customized laughter kit!
Having a list of funny resources has been helpful because my brain is often fried due to chronic illness (hellooooo brain fog!). Instead of having to hunt around when I need a pick me up, I can use my kit as a jumping off point. (I printed my list off, but you can save it to your phone or wherever makes sense for you.)
Oftentimes, when I need a pick-me-up, my brain is too fried to think “Oh, I should watch or read such-and-such, that always makes me feel happier!” So, that’s why I’m making this list, so I know what tools I have in my laughter-as-medicine kit.
Before we dive into making a laughter-as-medicine kit…how exactly does laughter help?
I think we all know that laughter is a good thing, especially if you’re dealing with chronic illnesses, but did you know it can physically make a difference?
