Tips for living well with a disability
It is no longer Disability Pride Month, but we still want to live our best lives so here are some tips for living well with a disability. Disability Pride Month is an important month for raising awareness and protesting for societal change. It is something I do my best with, but often struggle with just because of the title of pride, I feel the same about the LBGTQ+ pride month. Pride can be so hard to find when society around you seems determined to make your life seem disposable because of this one thing about you. The world around us is not made for our disabled needs, laws and often…
The importance of accessibility at venues and small businesses
It is still Disability Pride Month, so lets chat about the importance of accessibility at venues and small businesses. Pull up a chair for some horror stories! I have been disabled since I was in my early 20s, over the years I have used many different types of mobility aids. From crutches, to walkers, to wheelchairs I have used them in my day to day life to make sure that I am safe when I am moving about. In that time, I have been to some really incredibly accessible places but I have also had some shocking experiences! Considering that the law which governs buildings in the Disability Discrimination Act…
What Is Mindfulness Really?
Mindfulness is one of those words that get thrown around a lot these days, but very often it is not perhaps fully understood by the one saying it. In fact, it can mean a lot of different things, and that is just part of what happens when a culture is trying to take on a relatively new idea. But this raises the question: what actually is mindfulness, and how do you know when it’s happening? You are probably aware of the many purported benefits of mindfulness, and there is no doubt that it can indeed be an extremely powerful tool for many. But only if you are doing it right,…
How practicing mindfulness helps my chronic illnesses
Today as part of Disability Pride Month, I thought we would chat about how practicing mindfulness helps my chronic illnesses. I have lived with chronic illnesses and mental health conditions for most of my life, I always struggled with pain and anxiety even as a child. Through it all I could never seem to find anything that I felt in control of or that I did that would help. Most of the time, my pain was explained away as ‘growing pains’ and I was told as I got older I would grow out of them. However, by my early twenties my body was struggling and I was having problems with…
Disability Pride Month 2023
It is Disability Pride Month 2023, a time to raise awareness, and show that our disabilities do not mean we deserve hate or poverty. Let’s talk about it. I have been talking about disability and trying to be an advocate on this blog since July 2016. Naturally, I have always wanted to help others, and tried my best to stand up for people in the community who are unable to do so. It means so much to me to hear that something I have experienced helps others and it always helps me to feel less alone. Chronic illnesses often leave us unable to leave our homes so feeling seen is…
3 Tips To Help You Deal With Grief
Grief is something that we’re all going to feel in life at some point or another, and it’s always going to be a difficult thing to process. Losing someone is never easy, but it’s important that you understand how to process your grief and handle it in a healthy way. It’s not something you can run from, and there are ways you can make it easier on yourself, by coping with your grief in a way that makes you feel better. Even making plans directly after a loss can be incredibly difficult, but there are necessary procedures that need to be followed. For example, if you’re looking for funeral directors…
Being productive with chronic illnesses
It can be so hard and so frustrating being productive with chronic illnesses, we have less time and less ability to get things done; So, here are some tips to help. I got sick in my early twenties, I had just finished my diploma in nursing, I was part of the project 2000 intake. I had finally found the ward I wanted to work on and was starting to really learn and gain confidence. However, I had been struggling for a while, and the trigger had been a chest infection I caught while at work. I had started getting migraines at least once a week, and was struggling with fatigue.…
Carers Week 2023
I have been an unpaid carer now since the start of the pandemic, and my husband has been an unpaid carer for me since we met over a decade ago. It is Carers Week 2023, and time we talked about it again. It is so natural to want to care for the people around us. It is small things like calling to check someone took their meds, or popping in to do someone’s shopping that feel so normal. This is how family is meant to be, taking care of one another and being there when someone needs you. However, being a carer can be a lot more than that and…
Coping skills for when you are flaring
I’ve not been well recently, a couple of weeks ago I found myself in A&E so lets chat about my thoughts after that and I share some coping skills for when you are flaring. I will be honest, when I went to the GP I did not think he would send me to the hospital, I had a list of symptoms I had since covid. One of those was chest pains, but I knew it wasn’t my heart instead I was pretty sure it was costochondritis, or intercostal muscle cramps. However, because it was in my chest, the GP immediately sent me to the hospital to be checked over. Now,…
How accessible is Stafford Castle?
Now spring is here, me and hubby are heading out to local museums and fun days out, so lets talk about how accessible is Stafford Castle. I love going out and visiting stately homes and museums, so as a way to make sure we do it every month I decided to start vlogging it for my YouTube channel. However, I also wanted to share it here, so I thought why not take the chance to talk about the accessibility of each place I visit. Often those of us with disabilities or chronic illness rarely get to go out, and don’t have as much money to spent. So, if I can…