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TEDx Here I Come
Although I’d wanted to be a TEDx speaker for a long timer – after all, the TED stage is legendary – the experience is quite different to what I’d imagined. If you are wondering what it’s like to be a TEDx speaker, or how to manage a big event when living with chronic illness and life challenges, then I’m here for you. I’m sharing my experience in the hope that it’s useful – which in many ways, is what speaking is all about. TEDx begins with an idea worth spreading. Once you find your idea worth spreading, it needs to be summed up in one sentence. If you can’t do…
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My Top Ten Most Comforting Books
When you need some comfort, if you are having a difficult day or you just want something lovely to occupy you – dig into this list and don’t forget to comment to share your favourite comfort books/films/actions. 1. The Harry Potter Series Because what part of becoming a wizard, and overcoming evil with the help of your friends isn’t heart-warming? 2. Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day It’s the ultimate Cinderella story, and it is unmissable. 3. Cold Comfort Farm Flora Poste “of every art and grace save that of earning her own living,” travels to the farm of her relatives, and finding it devoid of both common…
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In Defense of Doing Nothing
I feel it too, the passing of time. The frustration of physical limits. Mounting achievements by your friends and loved ones, when simply getting out of bed feels like climbing a mountain to you. I know you want all those good things – love, joy, fulfilment, achievement and that’s why on any good day, in any space, reprieve or opportunity you get, you launch. It feels like you haven’t got the luxury of slow-and-steady so you run at life in any moment you can, pushing, pushing, pushing to achieve those long held goals. Doing is an addiction. (Click to Tweet!) When we are doing we feel momentum, we feel like…
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Accessible Enjoyment: How to Create Joy Everyday (Bad Days Included)
Disability and fun can seem incompatible. How can you have fun when you are stuck in bed all day (and not in a good way)? What ways are there to laugh and smile when you are preoccupied with pacing, worrying about benefits, dealing with all the well-intended recommendations to drink more water/eat healthily/try chia seeds and oh yes, the actual chronic illness you are living with every single day? It’s hard, I know. I really do know as I’ve lived with chronic illness for the last thirteen years. But I’ve also danced in firelight on the beach at sunset, shared my heart on stage with hundreds of people, groomed the horses in milky December light,…
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Let’s Talk About Self-Worth
Maybe you aren’t a size 6. Maybe you can’t do downward dog. Maybe you aren’t exactly setting the world alight. Maybe you don’t know who you are, or what your passion is. Maybe brushing your teeth feels like a huge task. Maybe you aren’t earning 6 or 7 or 8 figures like a #boss Maybe your blog isn’t the talk of the town. I don’t care. You, my dearest, are worth everything, everything. Let’s talk about self-worth… Self worth is respecting my right to be a human being not a human doing. It means, I get space on this planet simply by being here, and I don’t need to rush/prove/busy myself…
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