Take 2: Winner of Chronic Resilience
Remember the giveaway of Danea Horn’s new book Chronic Resilience: 10 Sanity-Saving Strategies for Women Coping with the Stress of Illness? We hit a wee snag– the winner whowas announced last month never contacted me to get her book. So this is presented me with a unique opportunity to give away the same book twice!…
Arthritis and Employment: Fit for Work
[1] The Arthritis Society, “high impact of arthritis in the workplace draws focus during arthritis awareness month.” Toronto, September 3, 2013 [2] Ibid
New Ebook – 7 Facets: A Meditation on Pain
Pain is a funny thing. Not just to live with (in which case it’s not always very funny), but in terms of the myths and the silence surrounding it. Talking about pain is uncomfortable, especially for those who don’t have it. Pain is hard to understand. You can’t measure it, it’s difficult to describe and…
Will you help me raise $500?
I often look at my copy of Our Hands Can! and every time, it makes me smile and feel stronger. Every time I see the Show Us Your Hands! community poster in my rheumatologist’s office, it makes me smile and feel part of a community. I want more people to have a chance to feel…
The Benefits of Space
I took August off from my job as Community Leader for HealthCentral.com’s RA site and a few other things. This cut my workload in half and I discovered something revolutionary. I work too hard. Now, before you experience ocular whiplash from rolling your eyes too hard — because this factoid has been in the obvious…
Arthritis and Employment: Making It Work
September is Arthritis Awareness Month in Canada. As part of this, I’m doing a series of posts about initiatives by different organizations. The common theme of these will be dealing with the topic of working when you live with arthritis. The Arthritis Research Center of Canada is a very cool nonprofit organization. For one, they’re…
New Shop, New Products
Some time ago, I played around with Zazzle for some custom-made products and liked it a lot. The interface is wonderfully easy, making interesting products a snap. I spent part of my vacation time in August making some new stuff. Looking for inspiration? In addition to the Still Standing poster still in the shop, I’ve…
Book Review: The 5th Wave
Cassie is 16 years old, and alone. Not the kind of alone teenagers are wont to bask in while feeling tortured. Really alone. In the woods, her only possessions a sleeping bag, a backpack of provisions, with an M-16 and a teddy bear for company. It is so quiet that she can hear “the stars…
Trekking in the Andes
Ever since I first read the book about the Peruvian soccerteam that had to engage in a bit of cannibalism to survive, I’ve wanted to see the Andes Mountains. Yes, I realize this was a bit of an unusual preamble to a post about inflammatory arthritis, but it is relevant. Sort of. Last week, I…
What Okinawa’s 80% and Mary Kay Taught Me about Writing with Chronic Illness
Updated September 28, 2021 I ran out of spoons around the middle of June. Then I spent the next six weeks teetering on the line between having just a few and being deep in energy overdraft, while mentally (and repeatedly) chanting just hold on until August 1 and not quite understanding why I was flaring…
Reclaiming Your Voice
As some of you may have noticed, I’m on a much-needed sabbatical from my main day job and all this freedom has given me the mental space to think. As is my wont, thinking usually leads to writing and in this particular instance that, too, made me think. When I was in university, I used…
Show Us Your Hands! Works with Inflammatory Arthritis and Starts Fundraisers for Growth
(August 13, 2013) – Show Us Your Hands! is pleased to provide an update of the organization’s activities in 2013. Launched less than two years ago as a community collage project, our grassroots organization continues to grow thanks to the continued support from members of the inflammatory arthritis community. We are happy to share that…