I've been thinking about the ways that parts of your identity can link in with your self-care routines, for when you're unwell, distressed or exhausted. Obviously some parts of self-care are pretty fundamental, and can't link in with identity, you just do them because you need to. For example, drinking plenty of water or Gatorade isn't going to be part of your identity, you just do it, because dehydration is not going to be helpful.

But I think some parts of self-care can be related to identity. If you have the energy to do something active that's great, but even when you have to be more passive, there are still ways you can keep your passions alive. For example, if you like a creative activity, or if you love reading you can do that. Read something that really matters to you, rather than just whatever you can find. If you need to be careful what you eat, and you love cooking, look for some recipes that suit your diet. Even if all you can do is watch TV, try to find something you are interested in, rather than just whatever is on.

Your identity encompasses all of the things that are important to you, so self-care will be a lot easier and more effective if you keep these things in mind, even when things are really bad. Even if you are in hospital, you're not going to sleep all the time. So bring something that can keep you distracted.

How do you think identity and self-care are interconnected? What is important for you when you practice self-care?

This is the link to an article about "Spoon Theory", a theory someone came up with to explain what it is like to live with a chronic illness, and how it affects everything you do.

It is an interesting way of thinking about illness, and is worth a read, regardless of whether you end up agreeing or disagreeing with it.

What are your thoughts on the spoon theory? what other ways could you explain how it feels to live with illness?

I'm keen to get people's thoughts on this, so feel free to comment below!

I've talked a lot about "invisible illness" on this blog. But often, even with illnesses that are considered invisible, there are some physical signs of illness or disability, and people often go to great lengths to hide these.

This link shows pictures of people who suffer from inflammatory bowel disease, and require a colostomy bag, showing off their colostomy bag, rather than hiding it away.

I think this is really cool, because it shows that people do not need to be ashamed of physical signs of disability, and challenges societal ideas about what a "normal" body is.

What are your thoughts?

Today (August 3rd) is a day known as Esther Day. Esther Earl was a girl who died in 2010, at the age of 16, from thyroid cancer. She was involved in running a nerdfighters (fans of the vlogbrothers video channel) fan site, and she met the author John Green through this. Before she died, John came to her, saying that he wanted to start a holiday on her birthday, August 3rd, and asking her what she wanted this holiday to be about.

Esther said that she wanted the holiday to be about love. Not romantic love, lord knows there are plenty of holidays to celebrate that. No, she wanted it to be about all the other types of love. The love that you feel for your family, and for your friends. Esther thought that it was incredibly important that you tell these people what they mean to you, rather than leaving it unsaid. What an amazing way to have people remember you!

So today, and every August 3rd, I want you to tell people what they mean to you. Particularly the people that you love, but find it hard to say "I love you" to.

When you face a chronic illness, you do tend to rely on people for things that others don't. Sometimes you jus need help with things. Trust me, people would not get up to take you to hospital at three in the morning, or help you get out of the bath, if they didn't love you. So make sure they know you love them back.

Below are some links about Esther Day:

This is John Green talking about Esther Day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixr4YISTmck


This is Esther responding to John's video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXURnZ92cGM&list=UUdZb9xjim9qjnIwAuQpvWJA


This is the Harry Potter Alliance's page about Esther Day (She was a huge supporter of their work).
http://thehpalliance.org/esther-day/


This is the organisation Esther's parents, Lori and Wayne, started in her memory.
http://tswgo.org/

This is a video from a chronic pain specialist. I know that not everyone who follows Beautiful Identities will have a chronic pain condition, but I think that he message can be applied to many conditions.


One thing I like about this video is that it explains chronic pain in understandable terms, without making it seem less significant than it is. It does slightly oversimplify the treatment process, not everyone recovers within months, even with a multi-disciplinary pain approach.


I think it is a great video though, because it shows that there is hope for the future in chronic pain treatment. I think this is something that anyone with chronic illness should remember. Even if there is not a current cure, or even effective management, the medical field is constantly changing and evolving, so during your lifetime, there will be new things to try, and hopefully something that will work for you.

Don't forget that things as they are now, are not as they will always be.

Sorry for missing yesterdays post. I have had a bit of a busy time this week and last week. I found out last week that I was accepted into a postgraduate programme in Auckland, which started this week. So, although I'm very excited, it's been a bit overwhelming trying to sort everything out in such a short space of time. Sometimes life is just overwhelming, this isn't a symptom of illness, or a sign that things are deeply wrong, it's just life.


What do you do when you feel overwhelmed?


Also if you are interested in reading a bit more about living with chronic illness, from a variety of perspectives, the below link has a range of people's stories. Some of them have found ways of dealing with their illness, and maintaining a positive attitude, while others are at a stage where the illness is completely overwhelming them. I think everyone can remember being at that stage, even if they aren't currently.


Can you relate to these stories? What are your thoughts on them?

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/assignments/living-with-an-invisible-illness

This is a Ted Talk about stigma surrounding mental illness. I think it can also be applied to certain physical chronic illnesses. Stigma stems from a lack of understanding, and can be responsible for insensitive and hurtful responses such as those seen in last weeks video. The end of the talk highlights ideas central to Beautiful Identities, that this is just an illness, and not your whole life.


Do you ever get responses like these; "everyone has bad days", "my cousin had that and she's fine", "you just need to think positive"? How do they make you feel? What to you think ordinary people experiencing illness can do to help reduce stigma and discrimination?