I have now written quite a few blogs that deal more with my illness, CFS/ME, than with my beading.
The two are inextricably linked. I only discovered beading after I became ill. At first, it was therapy to help me. Then it gradually evolved into a means of earning a living. It still remains a therapy, and it feels like the only option open to me as I can’t work a ‘normal’ job.
But it is also a blessing. Not many people get to earn money from doing something that they love each day. Now, don’t get me wrong…this is not an easy way to earn money. It is a weekly and monthly struggle to bring in what I need. So, you won’t be finding millionaires in the beading world!
It has also led me to ‘meet’ in a virtual sense, a lot of lovely people with whom I share common interests and experiences. So, as I got to know more beaders, I realised how many others are also battling with CFS/ME. That seemed like a good reason for writing more about my experience.
I have used this blog to raise money for an ME clinic. I have also tried to raise awareness about what this illness is and how it feels. That latter aim feels pretty impossible. I frequently feel I don’t have adequate words to convey what ME/CFS really is. And, of course, none of us can truly understand what we haven’t experienced. But hopefully some of this helps in some small way.
This is going to be the last post from me in this series. And it’s not because I’ve run out of things to say. The fact is, I’ve barely touched the surface when it comes to talking about CFS/ME. In case you’re wondering about the ‘random’ image there, let me explain. It is actually the…
Today I want to talk about beading therapy. This is relevant to my November beading project. I would definitely argue that beading has helped me with CFS/ME. So, could it help you too? I want to answer three questions today: what is beading therapy? can it help you? how do you get started? Before I…
Well, if you’re a beader, you probably do have a good imagination. So, I’m inviting you to exercise it here. This is the third in my special blog series this month. In case you missed it, this November, I’m fundraising for a charity. The proceeds are going towards funding a clinical trial of a treatment…
This is the second in my series of blog posts to raise awareness of CFS/ME. Since I am all about beading, it’s no coincidence that I want to link beads into this. So, what are healing beads, I hear you ask? Is there even such a thing as healing beads? Well, let me start with…
So, how much do you know – or think you know – about CFS/ME? And, why on earth is a blog like this appearing on a website about beading? Well, let’s answer the first question… I’ve put together a little quiz so you can find out how much you actually know about CFS/ME… How much…
Well, isn’t time flying? That’s ten months of 2017 gone already. Which can only mean one thing… It’s time to announce my November beading project. Drum roll please… My November Beading Project This is one of those, ‘it seemed like a good idea at the time’ situations. Now, as it actually launches, I’m wondering if…
It’s that time of year: my Facebook newsfeed is full of personal reviews of 2016 and reflections on what kind of year it has been. So, this set me thinking. I’ve been seeing lots of downbeat reflections that focus on the celebrities we’ve lost, the political turmoil and the wars that fill the news at…
Are you sitting comfortably? Then let me begin… My beaded snowflake story starts in a bead shop in Cornwall in the summer of 2012. I was teaching at GJ Beads and somehow I found myself taking a look at the wall of beads that were new to me (can’t think how this happened…). Anyway, I…
Have I just gone insane? Very possibly. Why on earth would I be attempting to write a single blog about Mitochondria and beads? In fact, probably your initial question is: what are Mitochondria? I can tell you up front that they’re not a new type of bead…although I am considering the idea of developing a new…
I want to say thank you to a few people and also give you all an update on the CFS/ME. So, seeing as this blog is all about beads, I’m going to put this in beading terms! The whole of June has basically been a month of Frog Stitch (for those of you who haven’t…
