• Q&A with Kelly J. Aalseth “Living with Fibromyalgia has been a way for God to constantly remind me that he is my place of safety, that I can trust Jesus with my unknown future.” Interview on fibromyalgia, trusting God with uncertainty, and building a supportive community. (Invisible Illness Visible Worth Interview Project) | cassiecreley.com
    Invisible Illness / Visible Worth Interviews

    Q&A with Kelly J. Aalseth “Living with Fibromyalgia has been a way for God to constantly remind me that he is my place of safety”

    Kelly J. Aalseth recently published her first book! Congratulations Kelly! You can find her book “Keeper of Your Life: Actively Trusting Jesus Through Chronic Pain” on Amazon. This book focuses less on the medical side of chronic pain, and more on how to practically turn to Jesus in the midst of longsuffering.

    She also runs the blog Behind Pained Faces about life and faith with fibromyalgia. I’ve been enjoying reading her insights, especially in this blog post: “On annoyingly happy people, jealousy, and real joy.”

    I hope you’re encouraged by this conversation with Kelly on chronic illness, faith, and perseverance.

  • My List of Little Joys—Ideas for combining gratitude journaling with capturing moments that bring you joy. Here’s my list from to offer you some inspiration. | cassiecreley.com
    Blog,  Etc

    My List of Little Joys

    I want to try a new style of blog post, and would love to hear what you guys think of it!

    I’ve been wanting to get back into gratitude journaling after an unintentional break, as well as just journaling in general. I used to write journal entries fairly regularly, but lately its been…every four months or so.

    I noticed a funny trend when I’ve been writing in my gratitude journal lately—I’ve wanted to write something down that made me happy, but it made me feel silly to say I was GRATEFUL for it. So I thought I’d combine gratitude journaling with capturing moments that brought me joy.

  • Q&A with Richelle Heacock: “Keep fighting! You never know when your breakthrough will come.” Interview on disability awareness, life with paralysis, and the power of hope. (Invisible Illness Visible Worth Interview Project) | cassiecreley.com
    Invisible Illness / Visible Worth Interviews

    Q&A with Richelle Heacock: “Keep fighting! You never know when your breakthrough will come.”

    Richelle Heacock runs a YouTube channel focused on awareness of disabilities, with an emphasis on spreading hope and love. Her video discussing viewer questions about how to interact with someone with a disability or someone who uses a wheelchair is very informative and insightful.

    A car accident in 2010 left Richelle paralyzed, impacting her life and her identity as an athlete. Richelle worked as a volleyball coach for the first seven years following her accident, and is now focusing on her health and sharing her experiences and wisdom on YouTube.

    I hope you’re encouraged by this conversation with Richelle on chronic illness, faith, and perseverance.

  • Why I’m Making Christmas Cards in January – Thoughts on enjoying crafting with chronic illness | cassiecreley.com
    Create

    Why I’m Making Christmas Cards in January

    Since Christmas, I’ve still been in a Christmasy mood. Which has been nice because it has made the season feel like it’s lasted a little longer. I was very unwell Christmas day, so this has helped. I still felt like making Christmas things, and I’ve actually had a little bit of energy this month to do so.

    It has also helped that my parents got us a Sizzix embossing/die cutting machine for Christmas, which has been so fun to play with. Plus, it’s made card making very easy. (And watching tutorials on YouTube for using fun card cutouts while I’m crashed in a recliner has been inspiring. It’s nice to feel like I’m learning something and getting creatively inspired, vs. just being stuck recuperating.)

  • Brain fog broke my internal editor - "Fibromyalgia has impacted my ability as a writer, and I’m just starting to understand all the ways it has. Brain fog has made it extremely hard for me to objectively edit my work. It’s like the editing part of my brain is broken." | cassiecreley.com
    Health

    Brain Fog Broke My Internal Editor

    Fibromyalgia has impacted my ability as a writer, and I’m just starting to understand all the ways it has. I’ve been trying to express it for awhile, with the irony being that it takes way more effort now for me to express anything. Brain fog has made it extremely hard for me to objectively edit my work. It’s like the editing part of my brain is broken.

    Blogging has been much harder than I thought it would be, for reasons I didn’t expect. I knew energy to write was going to be a challenge, in addition to fighting through brain fog to express myself. But I wasn’t expecting to have so much trouble evaluating the quality of my work.

    I was given a great piece of advice

  • To The Christian Who Feels Sad at Christmas-Tips for physical and spiritual self care during the holidays. | cassiecreley.com
    Blog,  Faith

    To the Christian Who Feels Sad at Christmastime—Here’s What’s Helping Me

    We’re getting real on the blog today.

    I want talk about struggling with feelings of sadness around Christmas, something that can impact anyone, not only those of us with chronic illness.

    In a way, this feels a bit like a taboo subject. I kind of worry about admitting to this struggle out of fear that people will think I’m not grateful for all Christmas represents (it is Jesus’ birthday after all!) or that my sadness means I somehow dislike Christmas (which certainly is not the case!)

    I’ve struggled over the past several holiday seasons, and a lot of it has had to do with getting used to my limitations due to chronic illness. Christmas is one of my favorite holidays, so in addition to struggling with not feeling happy, I’m also struggling with not feeling quite like myself. My love for Christmas is a part of who I am, so this sadness is yet another way my chronic illnesses impact my identity.

    And I think as Christians we can sometimes feel pressure to feel or act happy 24/7, so feeling sad this time of year adds another layer of complexity—I feel guilty about it!

  • Q&A with Calina on life with Arthritis, Osteoporosis, and Crohn’s Disease. (Invisible Illness Visible Worth Interview Project) | cassiecreley.com
    Invisible Illness / Visible Worth Interviews

    Q&A with Calina: “Arthritis can happen to young people, too.”

    Calina is a dear friend of mine who is super tech savvy, loves video games, good movies, and practicing hospitality. We met in college at a Bible study hosted by a mutual friend. She took me to my first ComicCon several years ago, which was incredible!

    Calina graciously agreed to be my guinea pig—I mean, my first interviewee on this blog!

    It was a fun interviewing her and learning some new things about her (which is pretty awesome considering we’ve known each other over a decade!). I think you’ll be encouraged by her story—she has gone through osteoporosis, Crohn’s disease and arthritis plus some major injuries and surgeries, but her joy and humor is so life-giving and a beautiful testimony of what it looks like to trust God even when we don’t understand.

  • A Gift Guide Based On Your Chronically Ill Friend’s Love Language—Giving meaningful gifts helps our friends and loved ones feel seen and understood. Here are ideas for sharing gifts with someone with a chronic illness. These recommendations are great for Christmas, birthdays, just because, etc.
    Health

    A Chronic Illness Gift Guide Based On Love Language

    Gifts are extra-special if you gear them towards your friend or loved one’s love language. I’ve compiled ideas to help you do just that in this chronic illness gift guide! 

    Those of us with all the complexities and uncertainties of chronic illness can often feel misunderstood and even invisible, so it’s especially meaningful when you take the time to tailor a gift for us.

    As I mentioned in my post about easy, low-cost gift ideas, picking a gift based on someone’s love language helps them to feel seen and understood.