International ME/CFS and CIND Awareness Day

This is not my best post ever, my handwriting was shaky and getting what I wanted onto the page was impossible, so I would like to redo this spread at some point. But at the same time the imperfections of this spread is the reason I wanted to share it anyway.

May 12th is International ME/CFS and CIND Awareness day.

Invisible illnesses are often forgotten by many and so those who have them suffer as a result. When people "look fine" it is easy to assume that they are fine. With an increasing awareness of mental health, this perception is beginning to change but there is still a long way to go.

I was diagnosed with ME at thirteen years old after a year of fighting to find out why I was so unwell all the time. I'm lucky, most days now I look "fine" and it's only with flare-ups that most people know that I'm not okay. But even on my good days I am still limited and have to be mindful not to overdo it, when I do, it's only people like my mum or partner who see the tiniest changes is my eyes and body language and realise I'm struggling. For ten years I have had doctors and strangers, and sometimes even "friends" or "family" tell me that it is all in my head. I have had derogatory comments of "yuppie flu", "hypochondriac", and "lazy" thrown at me by people who have no idea of the impact of invisible illnesses. I try not to get angry at those people, instead I try to be glad that they have such fortune that they can't imagine the suffering that people like me live through on a daily basis.

Bullet journalling has been an amazing outlet for my mental health, but my ME sometimes means that I am deprived of even this, on days where my fingers can't even grasp a pen or raise a cup to my lips to drink while I'm thinking of spread layouts. Some days my head is too foggy to create ideas and I am too photosensitive to browse pinterest for ideas on my phone.

I know many people in this community suffer like me, some with ME, some with FM, some with MS or other invisible diseases. Yet each of them create amazing and beautiful spreads which help them cope with the challenges they fight on a daily basis without hope of recognition or praise. So today, I hope that some people will read this and be proud of the of our little community, that despite their illnesses, they still share and contribute and make this the wonderful place it is and that this post makes those "invisible illnesses" a little more visible.

P. S. Also I know ME awareness is blue, but my blue tombow ran out and I like purple, which also represents the FM community too

And thank you for the feature!

#MEawareness