Hello, friends! It’s been awhile. A long while. I’ve been receiving PMs, DMs, emails, etc. for awhile now from a bunch of you lovelies - all checking in to make sure that I’m doing OK because it’s been so radio silent. Thank you for checking in - it means a lot!
Standard social conduct would be that I apologize for being gone. However, I’m not sorry, so I’m not apologizing.
Say what!?
I’ve been radio silent because I’ve been deep in the throws of …. simply living my life. Quietly. With more intention. Enjoying the nature here on Pierce Place. More yoga. More meditation. Adventuring around Florida. Focusing on my health & wellness in new ways. Working on my 500hr Yoga Teacher Training. And more. So much more.
The trip in April was life-changing in many ways. 6k miles alone gives a person a lot of time in their head! Coming home to the myriad of regular Scleroderma testing plus the new regular cancer monitoring were an added fuel to that fire. When I came out the other side of that, I inadvertently just dropped off from the social stuff.
And it’s been lovely. Liberating in some ways. Definitely freeing.
This fall will be 20 years living with Scleroderma and the wild rollercoaster ride that it can bring.
In 2005, after surviving the chemo that saved my life; when we saw the lung progression slow; and feeling like I had my second chance at life, I all but immediately started doing advocacy work. Speaking at events, testifying in front of the Maryland State Senate, participating in task force work, running a support group in Baltimore, etc. I burned myself out. Moving to Florida was an easy way to transition into taking a break from all of that. As I was experiencing a pretty significant flare, it was a much needed chance to focus on my health and well-being again.
Fast-forward to 2017 when I started working with Yoga for Scleroderma. That single partnership kicked off my advocacy work again. For the past five years I’ve been back at that pretty hard. I’ve been an advocate. I’ve helped others advocate for themselves. I’ve documented and shared all the tips, tricks, and hacks I can so that folks can have the best quality of life possible. I love it all AND I have burned myself out. I’ve been trying to “do it all” AND capture/document it all at the same time to be sure to share it here. In all of that doing, documenting, and sharing, I wasn’t necessarily present or in the moment of my own life as much as I would like to think I was.
Now. 2022. As I’m writing all of this, I’m seeing that it seems to be roughly a five(ish) year cycle that I go through this. I’m still doing all of the “work” and advocacy things. I’m just being more “here and now” for my personal part of this life-journey. There’s so much more to my life than my illnesses. Yes, they are a part of my life and definitely affect my daily living. After 20 years, though, I’ve really honed in most everything so that I’m not needing new hacks or new workarounds. I’m really just living my life. With nothing new to offer right now.
If THIS isn’t persevering and rocking on, I don’t know what is.
💋🤘🏻
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