Ireland End to End Cycle !

As I start to type this, my husband and friends should be cycling the last couple of miles to Malin Head after their epic #Mizen2Malin  cycle relay.

They decided their big cycle this year would be a fund-raiser, and several charities were selected including Tim's choice of Invest in ME.

Tim's Ireland End to End Just Giving Page for Invest in ME

Start line-up at Mizen Head:

Their epic cycle started on Friday 20th June at 9am and with only two pit stops the three teams relayed through the night and ---- word just in ---- finished today at about 4.30pm.  

One of the support vehicles

Athlone - midway, middle of the night!

On the road again!

And here's the finish line-up at Malin Head.

 So now they are checking in for a shower, a well earned rest and a big dinner and celebration.

I'll get my husband home tomorrow!

Well done Tim and co.  Proud of you all - and the fantastic totals raised for charity.

£2120 + Gift Aid for Invest in ME as the total currently stands.  Yay!  
(Up dated Thurs 3rd July)

Keeping Going... Keeping Happy...

So I got a complement the other day.  I was praised for how I can stay cheerful throughout this ordeal that is ME.

People have told me that they think they would not cope "AT ALL!"

I guess I would have thought the same thing too, a few years ago.

Yet somehow the mind adapts to the new reality, and somehow we can keep going...

There was a BBC article this week that got me thinking: A Point of View: Happiness and disability

The author made the point that the public at large seem to assume that disabled people should be permanently unhappy about their situation.

Yet he also noted that individuals tend to have a default level of happiness, and that after major injury (or even a lottery win) that happiness levels will change for a period, but then return to this default state of "happiness" once the situation has become normal.

I imagine there are some situations, such as unresolved pain, unmet needs, or escalating debt that would not follow this pattern.

Likewise an ME sufferer who has a declining state of health and no feeling of control, would also find it more difficult to feel content.

I know that I have had periods of decline through out this illness, and each one of those has required a new and unpleasant re-adjustment.  However over the past 6 months I have been able to stabilise my health through careful attention to pacing techniques.

With this stability, I find I am now more content to see the good things in the world around me and to feel grateful for what I have.  Of course sometimes I'm frustrated - my daughters have just gone shopping without me - but I'm learning now to balance my life and to feel less anger at how my life has changed.

Happiness, in the light of illness, certainly takes on a different flavour.  Yet I agree with the article: provided a situation is not worsening, we can adjust and find something of our old selves once more.

And even in illness happiness can bloom again.  ;-)

Adopt CCC for ME in N.Ireland - Final push for signatures!

Over 7000 ME and Fibromyalgia patients in N.Ireland, and there are no specialist healthcare services to help them!

The Newry and Mourne ME and Fibromyalgia Support group hope to change that with a petition to Edwin Poots the Health Minister for Northern Ireland's Local Assembly.

Link to Petition: Fully Adopt CCC for ME in N.Ireland

Please help this cause by signing and sharing the petition widely in the last few days of May, so that it can be presented with as many signatures (local and international) as possible.

Thank you.

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Guest Post from Erin Fromkes - Art in Illness

Chronic illness causes one to experience life in an extraordinary way. As with many artists the creative nature comes from a combination of internalized experiences and imagination.

When I am able, I cannot resist the opportunity to paint my interpretation of the medical and psychological happenings through which I’ve lived. My pieces have a tendency to cry out. They have a trapped spirit within that wants to be seen, heard, to reach another. My works are portals that connect me to an outside world.

One style of my work is short-lived. These temporary pieces, captured through a series of photographs, are created using pills, pill powders, teas, tinctures and medicines. The use of these familiar substances, which I must consume regularly, serve as mediums bringing forward strange figures and ghostly portraits.

Temporary works, arising to disappear, reflect a philosophy of my illusive symptoms, disease, life, time, and existence. These dark visions aim at releasing elements of my illness and strive to capture a visual essence for my viewers to experience. Along with these are emotions of fear, frustration, anguish, loneliness and a erie desperation to be recognized.

Alongside my pill creations, I’m drawn to create mixed media works. Using materials that are personal and readily accessible, I create paintings that combine acrylics, oil paints and torn papers.

My backgrounds are a collage of letters, notes, lists, old prescriptions, doodles and other papered moments of my life. These fragmented scraps make for interesting backdrops and quickly become more intriguing once an image is painted over top. Areas of the background are left untouched for the viewer to see, allowing little bits of information to be gathered, processed and interpreted.

This layers myself into each piece and lets the inquisitive viewer learn more about who I am. Connecting to an audience in such a way is therapeutical, for this art helps me to feel less detached, acknowledged, and somehow important, if only for the briefest moment.

Guest post by Erin Fromkes

for #May12BlogBomb

More of Erin's amazing images can be found on her FB page HERE