So, You're Screwed.

Me, too!

image credit: Christine Elgersma and multiple sclerosis

Hey fellow screwed folks! Thanks for signing up for my newsletter. This here is the appetizer for the main courses to come.

Now listen – let me set the expectations for what you’ve signed up for. My goal is to offer the things I crave around having a chronic illness: connection, amusement, resonance, inspiration, information, and validation. It can get lonely, depressing, frightening, and even boring being chronically ill. I hope it will help to have weekly/bi-weekly reminder (mileage may vary with energy levels) that you’re not alone. We – those living with a chronic illness and the people who love them – are in this together, though we don’t all know each other or even have the same condition.

We are living lives that throw uncertainty, suffering, and sometimes mortality, into sharp relief. No one knows what’s coming next, but we live a heightened sense of “some bad shit could happen any minute” because it already has and probably will continue. We live with the proof in our bodies – cracks in foundations and leaks in the roof – that creak and groan every day, a constant reminder of instability and eventual collapse.

It fucking sucks. That’s it. That’s all. I know some people feel gratitude and see their illnesses/conditions as a gift, and I am all about it if that works for you. Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em. AND the struggle is still real, even if you can see opportunities in a shitty deck. That’s first, but that’s not all. There’s also the daily beauty in our lives, the wins, moments of vulnerable connection, laughter, love. Our bodies may be janky, broken-down haunted houses, but there can still be incredibly meaningful, wonderful life inside.

So, we’re here to cry, to celebrate, to resonate, to connect, and to laugh. Together. Let’s do this.