• A Love Letter to Your Healing Heart

    This is a love letter from my healing heart to yours. Paper hearts and rose maroc, old stories and tears, shared along with heart-scars over cups of tea, it’s all here. We are, facing each other across the internet, from my screen to yours, be my virtual valentine? I have something very special to share with you… A Love Letter to Your Healing Self.   You are brilliant. You don’t have to look the part, or feel it. You won’t reach a time in your life when your day to day reflects what you read online or what you imagine your idols’ lives look like. The beauty you see is…

  • Illness Etiquette: What People CAN Say…

    In many illness support groups everyone talks of all the silly things people say to those with illness and disability… :: Will you ever walk again? (Hi, I don’t believe we’ve been introduced, I’m Grace, how do you do?) :: Isn’t it funny. So funny, bodies, aren’t they? (Not wildly, no) :: I wonder when they will find a cure? (I’ve no idea, and in the mean time please don’t report to me what you read in some random health bulletin, it’s not helpful and it’s boring) :: Aren’t you brave? (No. Fighter pilots, yes. Firefighters, yes. Mahatma Ghandi, yes. Me, no) :: What did you do to yourself then? (Would you believe me if I told you…

  • Dark Times, Towards the Light: A Healing Journey Update

    I was discharged from hospital on Thursday, and am so happy to be home. I am okay. I had “not-a-stroke,” but we aren’t entirely sure what it is. I was admitted on Wednesday afternoon, because my right side suddenly went numb and felt like it had collapsed. I had weakness, loss of sensation and numbness in my right side from head to foot. I still have these symptoms, but they’re better than they were. I’ve had All Of The Tests from heart trace to CT scan, everything is clear so that’s good news. The doctors think perhaps it’s related to my pre-existing conditions. I’m home and safe and in the best position to…

  • Dear Grace Q & A: 7 Steps To Your Business Comeback After Chronic Illness

    How do you move forward when you’ve had to take a break from business because of illness? I’m so happy to answer this! Let’s break it down, shall we? 1. Listen to what’s underlying. Ask yourself questions to really dig into how you’re feeling and what your greatest fears are. Are you worried people have forgotten you? Think you are unreliable, unprofessional? Do you feel guilty about needing a break in the first place? Where is your fear coming from? Whose voice is it? When you pinpoint your underlying worries, it’s far easier to acknowledge them and then, take the actions necessary to alleviate them. 2. “Turn your setback into…

  • Non-Hippy Happy: Building the Happiness Habit

    Firstly, full disclosure, I am pretty hippy. Not in a tie-dyed, groovy maaaan, recreational drugs, ‘drop in any time it’s an open house’ way. Not at all. I can’t stand tie-dye. I certainly don’t speak like that. I’m as square about drugs as its possible to be without actually being law enforcement personnel and if you try and come to my house without an invitation I won’t answer the door. I like block colours, received pronunciation, virgin drinks, appointments, and actually being dressed when you arrive. But in terms of happiness, wellness and emotional health – I’m a meditating, affirmation reciting, mantra chanting, mandala wearing, yoga class attending, flower-crown loving and therapy advocating hippy. But I was…