I don't want to contribute to this putrid society. Rot in hell.
seen from Georgia
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seen from Malaysia
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I don't want to contribute to this putrid society. Rot in hell.
Reminder that healthy people don't feel pain daily
Healthy people don't go to bed in agony from doing minor daily tasks
Reminder that you're not faking because you managed to do more than usual today.
You're not faking it if you can do more than another person with the same illness.
You're not faking it if your symptoms are less one day.
You didn't make it all up if you have a period where your symptoms are more manageable.
Here's the thing, I've been chronically ill for over half my life. I was first ill at 13 and now I'm 32.
There have been times when I couldn't leave the house without a wheelchair, there have been times I've needed a walker or a walking stick but there have always been times that I've done higher education or had a job and coped well with it.
In every single one of those times I've been a chronically ill person. Even when I was doing things like going to uni or having a job, it was still harder. I was living what appeared to be a healthy person's life while not actually being particularly healthy.
It's so easy to feel like you're a faker. Because chronic illnesses are so misunderstood and because we're even told outright that that's not a thing or not that bad or surely it's fixable. And we internalise that. We become our own ableist enemies.
That's why it's so important to take a moment every so often and remember that no one is faking this. You didn't trick everyone around you, including yourself. You are actually a person living with a chronic illness.
Mum: maybe if you slept less in the day you'd get to sleep easier in the night.
Me: *skips nap time because it feels manageable that day*
Me at 1:30am:
(don't come for my mum, she's super supportive regarding my chronic illnesses and only said that as part of a conversation I initiated about worrying I was sleeping too much in the day)
Krystal: Queer, Fibromyalgic, Activist - I have more or less successfully kept 7 children, 6 of whom are teenagers in the house during stay-at-home orders. https://ift.tt/3e2d9mh
Diamond: Fibromyalgic, Comic Book Collector, Native American - I volunteer for different events that come through Worcester. http://noevil.co/2sxK8ft