Blog Articles About Life

The Seated View title graphic showing blurred string of lights on a brown background with a gold "18" . Text: Thoughts on my 18th Blgiversary". Logo for The Seated View

Thoughts on my 18th Blogiversary

The Seated View is old enough to vote. I feel very much like I imagine any parent when their child hits this magic number: proud, a little teary, and consumed with the memories of the past eighteen years. There was the overwhelm of the first month or two when you convince you’re going to drop…

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Chronic Illness Doesn’t Mean You Don’t Contribute

I can’t work, so I feel like a deadweight in my marriage. We used to do active things together and now we can’t. I worry that it’ll end our relationship. I see these comments all the time as I talk to others in the chronic illness community. When you can no longer do everything you…

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Try #3Things for Lasting Change with Chronic Illness + Free Tool

Failing on your New Year’s resolutions within a few weeks is normal for anyone, but when you have a chronic illness, life is already overwhelming enough. Why add another thing that makes you feel bad? One year ago, I decided to not make a resolution. Instead, I created a way to gradually create change was…

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#3Things FAQ: Small Steps to Build a Better Life with Chronic Illness

You may have seen me talk about #3Things on various social media channels. In case you don’t know what I mean, here’s an FAQ. What, exactly, is #3Things? #3Things is a gentle way to build a better life with chronic illness. I wanted to help people with chronic illness  accomplish goals in a positive way that respects…

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They Come in Threes, Don’t They?

One Turns out that wasn’t allergies. I spent a fair bit of last week being convinced I had the worst allergy attack of my life, including a sudden and profound allergic response to someone cutting the grass in a park. Well, it all started with that weird woolly sensation in the back of my throat…

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Life Philosophy on a Mug

I find inspiration in the weirdest places. A display in a card store, an ad on a billboard, the back of a cereal box, books (of course), tattoos, and the list goes on. Images, words, quotes that make me stop and think or lift my spirits. And sometimes, what I see becomes integrated in my…

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2016: One Hell of a Year

Well, that;s been quite something, hasn’t it?  2016 was a year that had opinions about what should happen, made it so, and many of us didn’t like it. For one, it was, in the words of the Toronto Star, “the year the music died.” David Bowie left us in early January and I’m still not…

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High Anxiety and Jumping in the Deep End

“Relax,” he said. “Hi!” I replied. “Have you met me? I am not a relaxed person.” I have lived with anxiety since I was a child. My first memory of being really anxious was the first day of Grade 1. I remember the red dress I was wearing. I remember being one of only two…

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5 Things I’ve Learned from RA

#RAblog is a seven day event from September 21-27, 2015. The brainchild of Rick Phillips, the goal of this week is to raise awareness about rheumatoid arthritis and build community. Up on over to the RADiabetes site to learn more about #RABlogWeek and find links to other participants.For Day 4 of #RABlog Week, we were…

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Learning to Undress My Stress

Something had to change.  When I went to the ER in an ambulance for a suspected heart attack for the second time in eight months, it was clear that something wasn’t right. When I, for the second time in eight months, was diagnosed with nasty GERD mimicking the symptoms of heart attack, it was time…

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A Perfect Start to Summer

Summer officially arrived this past weekend and for me, that was reason enough to scuttle all work and goof off intensely for three days. I can highly recommend it. The adventure started on Friday, when I wandered down to the Redpath Waterfront Festival to check out the Dock Dogs competition. These dogs are incredible and…

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True Catastrophizing

You know how I feel about catastrophizing (here, here and here). It’s that terrible term used to belittle the concerns of people with chronic illness and chronic pain. When you’re in the middle of an intense flare, it’s a fairly normal response to wonder if it’ll ever end, yet medical professionals define it as viewing…

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