Mindless Musings

I've been stuck down, by a bout of sickness. Well, just a cold or maybe a bit more than that. Needless to say, the last few days haven't been great. It was weird because it came on so suddenly, I had a bit of a sore throat about a week ago then BOOM! Pain flare and full on cold. Fun times. I wanted to post last week but I've been bed ridden. I feel like these days I am knocked around more by sickness because of CRPS. My immune system is already weak and then some rude cold decides to come in.

Today, I want to just write, whatever comes to mind. My mind has been hectic lately and I feel that the occasional unscripted writing session is quite cathartic and real. I need to let my hair down once in a while.


I want to start by talking about pain flares. Sometimes, chronic pain sufferers experience flares, which cause pain to spiral into unbareable levels. It comes up suddenly, for no reason sometimes. It's really frustrating because it hinders independence and limits your already limited ability to do normal things. Almost any type of pain imaginable can be felt during a flare. For me, burning, stabbing and aching frequent my flares, but pulling, cramping or pins and needles may come to the party too. But, I'm not here to dwell on agony. I wanted to share my experience and maybe help you. I know how hard it can be to keep going during a flare because they can last for a long time (I'm still recovering!). A few things I do to try and douse the flames are;
Acknowledge - acknowledge that your pain is horrible, acknowledge that it's hard and unbearable but remember your pain can't control you, you are strong. Try not to wallow in hardship too much - it could make it worse.
Distract - do other things, play a game, watch a movie or funny video, take your mind off it.
Calm - indulge in calming activities, listen to your favourite music, do a meditation, practice mindfulness, remember to breathe.

What do you do what you get flares? Tell me your story in the comments. I would be interested to know. A great link on tools to cope with flares.

~ moving on ~

I've been spending a lot more time on Twitter lately, trying to interact with other like minded bloggers. I'm hoping to become more a part of the community and find my place in 'the bloggersphere'. I think Twitter is the best tool to expose yourself if you're a blossoming blogger. There's a lot of undiscovered talent on there and I already feel like I've learnt a thing or two. I'd love to participate in conversation so if you have a chat or hashtag that you participate in during the week, let me know.

On a different note, I've been thinking about mental health lately. It's really important to me because it affects so many people, including me. I want to create a page on here called 'Life Gems'. On it will be journeys of people affected by a mental illness, of any kind, whether it be depression, OCD, ADHD, personality disorders, ANYTHING. It's a safe space to share and find others that may be in a similar situation to you. The goal is to help destigmatise all mental illnesses and provide a platform for people to connect. I will share my story too. This should be up within the next few weeks. If you want to share your story please email: millersinquiries@gmail.com.

So yeah, I think that's it. I really enjoyed writing this. I was feeling kinda inspired from all the writey-ness I've been seeing. Anyway, I'm gonna go and eat.

-Miller