WAAD 14 Blogger Meet and Greet
Invisible illness advocacy

Meet Me at World Autoimmune Arthritis Day 14

I can’t begin to catch you up on where I’ve been lately. Mostly, it’s the continuing saga of a long string of challenges. I can no longer categorize these challenges as either “good” or “bad”. I’m either in a really Zen place or I’m totally shut down, or I’m a bit

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Systemically Connected

I’ve long wanted to try my hand at vlogging (video blogging). Not because I think I’m a natural spokesperson (I’m not, I’m an introvert), but because I like to challenge myself with something new and because it’s a natural step towards some work I’d eventually love to do. So here

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After Vincent #5 © 2012 Jane Waterman
Invisible illness advocacy

Activist Love

I’m taking part in WEGO Health’s Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge Day 14 #HAWMC – Thank a few of your fellow Health Activists for what they have done. Call them out by name or twitter handle. Share your love. I concur with many of my fellow health activists, and as I

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Namaste © 2012 Jane Waterman
Invisible illness advocacy

Sister, Can You Spare A Dream?

I’m taking part in WEGO Health’s Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge Day 5 #HAWMC – If I could do anything as a Health Activist… Think big today! Money/time/physical limitations are no longer an issue. What is your biggest goal that is now possible? Today I woke up on the realist

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Nothing Like The Sun © 2012 Jane Waterman
Invisible illness advocacy

Once More, with Feeling

Day 30 – Recap National Health Blog Post Month Sitting here in the last hours of November 30, I feel a lot of things. I hope it wouldn’t be too obvious to say that one is an intense feeling of relief. It’s been a real roller coaster, with a couple

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Angel #1 © 2012 Jane Waterman
Invisible illness advocacy

Lucky Thirteen

Day 29 – “If I could accomplish one thing (anything) in 2013 it would be…” I’m prone to all kinds of superstitions about a new year. Many’s the time in late December I would make pronouncements to myself about the coming year, often with at least a couple of drinks

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Hanging Gardens © 2003 Jane Waterman
Healing toolkit

Unexpected Growth Through Invisible Illness

Day 22 – Write about change In a recent post, I talked about invisible illness and the process of subtraction: how illness whittles away at one’s health, work life, family, relationships/connections, and more. However, not all changes related to invisible illness are bad. I’m going to highlight some of the

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After Munch #4 © 2012 Jane Waterman
Invisible illness advocacy

Working (or Not Working) With an Invisible Illness

Day 14 – My own prompt for today: ‘Talk about the issues involved in working (or not working) with an invisible illness. Is it possible to find a life-work balance with a chronic invisible illness?’ Note: These problems aren’t unique to people with invisible illnesses. However, this is my area

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Early Light #2 © 2012 Jane Waterman
Invisible illness advocacy

Why I Write About My Health

Introduction During November, I’m writing a series of posts for National Health Blog Post Month. The event is organized by WEGO Health, a great organization that brings together health activists from around the world. What’s a health activist you might ask? A health activist is, not surprising, typically a person

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Dark Forest © 2012 Jane Waterman
Invisible illness advocacy

Mental Illness Research is Failing Us

World Mental Health Day is just passed, and with it, the calls for heightened awareness of the issues concerned with, ironically, mental illness. While it is gratifying to me as a long-term sufferer to see awareness raising all the time, and advocates stepping out (particularly in groups often reluctant to

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