Each month I enjoy joining in with Sheryl’s Chronic Illness Writing Prompts as it gives me a chance to give my readers more of an insight to my life. There are both good and bad things living with a chronic illness and the prompts give me lots of food for thought. This months Prompts are; Springing, Grounding, Luxuriating, Daunting and Sustaining. Here are my takes on these prompts.
Springing
I love the Seasons we get here in the UK and this week alone we have definitely been springing into April. Last week we had glorious sunshine and this week it’s been snow. It’s quite surreal but I’m honestly hoping that the cold weather will soon be springing away and we will get our sunshine back.
There is not much else springing up here. I don’t know what’s wrong with my garden but it really doesn’t like flowers or plants. Even if I keep them in pots they don’t seem to thrive. It must be the sun, it comes up at the front of the house and the back garden doesn’t get the sunshine until later. We are so enclosed that the sun only really shines on our back garden just before it sets. So, I literally have seen one flower so far, that was on my rose bush at the top of my garden, so maybe that’s were we get the most sun?
I most certainly haven’t had a spring in my step, I’ve been really ill and my Little Man has had an accident. I think we need winding up for some fun in the next few weeks.
Grounding
I can relate to this prompt. I have practiced grounding in the past but now I focus on reconnecting with the earth through Reiki and Crystals. I may write more about my experiences with these in the future, but as I am currently taking a course in Reiki healing with Crystals and I don’t want to share until I’m completely up to date.
I do remember many years ago doing a meditation exercise where I would imagine roots growing through my feet into the ground and connecting me to the earth. It used to make me feel connected to nature and the world around me. At the time I was fit and healthy body wise, but I used to suffer with my mental health and along with yoga it would help me feel much better.
I think grounding is a great way of keeping your mental health in check, it certainly helps with anxiety. It’s a simple holistic approach to make you feel better.
Luxuriating
I know a lovely lady who recently started a Body Shop business and she gave me a fantastic tip. By using their Body Butter and a razor it is possible to shave your legs without water. I haven’t shaved my legs in years. I did have a No No but it’s really old now and it’s one of those gadgets that you need to use regularly to work well. Being chronically ill means I don’t have the luxury of spending much time on myself, particularly if it takes some effort. Using the Body Butter method I was able to shave my legs while lying on a towel on my bed. It worked lovely and my legs were left nice and soft and hair free. Plus I smelt delicious too, there are lots of smells to choose from but I used the coconut body butter.
I don’t really have much time for indulging in luxuriating but I do like to take care of myself when I can. The occasional luxury product can make you feel so much better. I love my new crystal facial roller, it makes it easier for me to massage in my face cream and it feels so cool and massages lovely.
Daunting
It has definitely been a daunting few weeks for me. Not only have I been ill, but I had a bad reaction to my treatment which lost me two days. It’s probably the illness I had before that caused the bad reaction to the treatment. Sadly, the illness has not cleared up and has actually got worse. I’m currently waiting for test results. Fingers crossed I can get whatever it is treated properly soon.
Having my son break his arm has been daunting too, he’s not coped with it very well. When I think back to all the health problems and operations that Star had I really believe that children cope better the younger they are. The Little Man is ten years old and he is more aware of what is happening to him than Star ever was at just seven years. As daunting as it all might be, it can surely only get better from now on.
Sustaining
Sheryl gave several different definitions for sustaining…
Sustaining an injury, tick (well, the Little Man is)
Sustaining every day life, tick. Boy have the last few weeks been difficult, we have tried to sustain normality.
Sustaining an interest in learning something new, tick. I’m always learning, taking new courses, finding new things out. As I mentioned earlier I’m currently doing a crystal reiki healing course, so hopefully I can improve things in the future.
We have also been sustaining a better diet for the whole family. I have family members with food issues and family members with gastric issues, so healthy eating is the basic key to improve.
Returning to Normal
This isn’t one of the writing prompts but something I wanted to add as I don’t talk so much about my chronic illness on my blog now.
In the UK the lockdown restrictions are easing, you can go shopping, go to the pub (outside.) have your hair and nails done, go to the gym and meet up with friends and family (outside.) My Social Media timelines are filled with people talking about what they are going to do and what they are looking forward too.
Me, I’m looking forward to my next issue of my crochet magazine.
For a lot of people with chronic illness, lockdown life is something we are used to. Spending weeks at home, not seeing anyone, not doing anything, is our normal. We don’t get visitors, we don’t really want to see anyone when we are going through a rough patch. We don’t get out, and if we do it takes a couple of days to recover. I honestly haven’t missed much at all.
Outing and holidays are restricted because of my condition and mobility. Even a trip to the hairdresser is a logistic nightmare.
The past year has been a strange one. To see people complain about not being able to go out when they wish, or go on holiday, or miss big family gatherings, makes you think even more about what you are missing out on. Usually I’m just seeing posts of gatherings that I’ve missed out on, but you kind of get used to that. When you hear about how much others are missing that it just brings it all home on just how much your life really sucks all the time.
I’m happy that everyone else is getting their lives back, no-one should have to carry on like this. I will never give up hope that there will be something that gives me my life back one day. I can’t wait to celebrate.
If you enjoyed this post you can read more of my monthly writing prompt posts here.
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The weather has been a bit crazy. It’s sunny here today but so cold. I want the heat back.
My garden isn’t doing too well this year. The things inside, in pots are growing well but outside there is nothing apart from weeds and some wild flowers. I think it’s just been too cold.
That is a great tip about shaving your legs.
We are not rushing to go back out into the world either. We are going to go shopping but not until next week. x
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Yes these locksdowns do remind me keenly of how much my life resembles a permanent lockdown. We are in another lockdown here not that it matters since I can’t function well enough to do anything even if I could and wanted to. So there is that. I get a little tired of people complaining about short lockdowns, and not listening to the rules and just doing what they want… because their choices affect other lives. I wouldn’t care if their stupid choices affected only them but it could affect a whole lot more than just them- not that they care. I get the difficulty. I wish I could get out and about and socialize as well, pandemic or not. It takes a toll on a person. But I do not get how they can’t do it for a short duration when the cost is so high. Ah well, not like I can control the choices of others. I only have power to control my own choices.
That’s so true Nikki, I hope you are feeling better soon and take care x
Thank you for your honesty in your writings. Also, that is a great tip for shaving ones legs! I admit that in the winter I am a bit lazy about it. This might help 😉 #MMBC
What a fantastic tip to use body butter to shave. You are absolutely right about this Great British Weather. We has snow this morning and then lunch without our coats on in the sunshine. Crazy! #MMBC
You can always trust the British weather to send us all into confusion 🙂
I’m so sorry to hear you haven’t been feeling well, Anne. And your Little Man had an accident! I used to practice reiki. I think I need to get back to that. Maybe when the pandemic allows. Sending good vibes across the pond to you!!
Thank you Laurie
Hi Anne!
I’m so sorry to hear that you’ve been feeling ill again. These flares – so pesky and annoying. It’s a real roller coaster!
I wanted to thank you for the tip with body butter. (I also don’t shave, but that’s a good one!) And now I’m off to purchase a crystal facial roller here since they’re everywhere here in Taiwan. Take good care and I hope your garden starts blooming soon. My garden is going bonkers right now. I love it!
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I really do love my crystal facial roller, I imagine it smoothing away all my wrinkles (if only) but it does feel so nice.
I’m sorry that you had a bad reaction to your treatment and that your illness before it hasn’t cleared up. Hope that you start feeling better from that very soon. I can imagine that hearing people talking about what they are missing out on during lockdown life must bring home how restricted life is for you – hopefully it will help make others more empathetic about what life is like with chronic illness. I do hope that things do get better for you and that you can enjoy fewer restrictions too. Reiki and crystals sound interesting – I used to have a couple of colleagues in my midwifery days who were reiki practitioners but I don’t know all that much about it. Hope that Little Man is on the mend – I think it does get harder when children get older coping with things like that. #MMBC
It’s good to hear that you are balancing the challenges with some self-care practice. Thanks for the Body Shop tip! I’m a regular customer with about 3 reps but none has suggested this that I’m aware of.
I have learned the hard way that since being allowed to go out to work and to socialise outdoors my eye condition cannot handle the sudden change in conditions. I now have a diagnosis of eye ulcers and a treatment of steroid eye drops on top of my usual array of eye drops, creams and ointment.
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so sorry to hear about your eyes, that must be awful. Do try the shaving tip, it really is a good way if you are like me and find bending down really hard x
I’ve always been a bit curious about Reiki and crystals. My grandmother always had a couple of crystals that I played with as a child. Sounds like such an interesting course to do!
I learnt reiki but gave up after practicing it for 4 years. It was merely out of laziness and not anything else. However I can vouch for its effectiveness. It will be good for your chronic pain, if you practice it regularly.
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