Breaking the Waves #1 © 2013 Jane Waterman
Living with invisible illness

A Day in the Life – February 2016

Do you ever have those things you long to get back to, but no matter how much you try to marshal your energy, it doesn’t happen? Writing in my blog is one of those things. I actually have written in my blog – since my last entry on Christmas Day,

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Presence @ 2014 Jane Waterman
Invisible illnesses

Being Okay with What Is

Letting life be what it is at any given moment is not something that comes naturally to us. I was reminded of this as a student from my new chair yoga class (wow!) observed that I looked tired. I confirmed that I was, and she asked what I would be

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Star Birth #2 @ 2014 Jane Waterman
Living with invisible illness

It’s Okay to Talk About It

In recent memory, as the saying goes, my experience has been higher than usual levels of chronic fatigue associated with my Sjogren’s. In the early years of my illness, I believed I successfully pushed through these times, and just disregarded the 3-hour naps aka crashes that would happen after a

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After Munch #2 © 2012 Jane Waterman
Mental health challenges

Talking Isn’t Enough

I took part in a Twitter chat last night that debated the seemingly obvious impact of physical health issues on mental health issues, and vice versa. I say obvious, because it was obvious to everyone there. Unfortunately, the audience consisted of mental health professionals and mental health services consumers. As we confirmed

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Namaste © 2012 Jane Waterman
Healing toolkit

Beginning with Chronic Illness

I feel like I’ve waited my whole life to begin. In my young life, there were smaller obstacles: a lack of confidence and encouraging remarks, as well as the feeling of being different and sensitive in a noisy, overwhelming world. In my twenties, there came other challenges like physical and mental illness.

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A Little Rain Must Fall © 2012 Jane Waterman
Living with invisible illness

A Day in the Life with Sjogren’s

This post is part of the World Autoimmune Arthritis Day 2014 Blog Carnival. The theme of this year’s WAAD virtual conference is “A Day in the Life of an Autoimmune Arthritis Patient”. A link to the WAAD site follows this post. Blessings, Jane. A Day in the Life with Sjogren’s

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Struggling © 2014 Jane Waterman
Mental health challenges

Love Your Depression

If any other person said “love your depression” to me, I probably wouldn’t talk to them much longer. However, when my counsellor says “love your depression”, I know it’s not some positive thinking message she’s trying to whitewash this crippling pain with. She’s inviting me to think about things in

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Transformation @ 2014 Jane Waterman
Living with invisible illness

Life Interrupted, Again

I had big hopes for this year. I still do. However, the difference is those hopes have been modified from the impossible, unrealistic ones I had grasped for as I fled 2013, and have reformed as smaller, realistic, and somehow more magnificent hopes – ones that may one day manifest.

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In back, Jane and Mrs Blackbird; in front, Annette and her husband.
Healing toolkit

Gifts

Even as my world shrank over the years, it was enriched in many ways through the social networks I developed online. The impact of those social networks on my quality of life cannot be understated. Indeed, it was in one of my first online groups in 1997 that I met

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First Snow © 2012 Jane Waterman
Mental health challenges

Cracking

It’s been less than two days since my counsellor and Mrs Blackbird both agreed that I need to take a month’s stress leave to buffer my depression, but I already feel like the ice beneath the fine powder of yesterday’s first snow – cracking. Having to take ‘stress leave’ is

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