We’ve passed the halfway mark for the year! How are you holding up, my friends? I hope that this mini community activity has been enjoyable, and useful to you in some way so far. If you’ve yet to join us and are stuck in a writing rut, these prompts may help to jiggle your creativity a little. It is also a platform for connection as we all share about our chronic illness lives using the same prompts, and it can be reassuring to know that you’re not alone no matter where you are in the world. So let’s hop right into the July linkup. Have fun and looking forward to each and every one of your entries!
What It’s All About
It is a monthly get together for anyone with chronic illnesses. An opportunity to share, to listen, and to learn from one another. I also think it’s a great way to provide insight into life with chronic pain, from many different points of view. All you have to do is write a short excerpt for at least three of the listed prompts, and publish it on your blog. Then click on the blue ‘Add Link’ button below to add your blog entry here. Voilà, you’re now part of the party!
A Few Simple Rules:
- Only 1 link per website.
- Do comment on at least 2 other blog posts in this linkup if you participate. Helping to spread the word on your social media is always appreciated, but not required.
- This linkup starts on the 1st of every month. There will be 5 different prompts. It will close at the end of each month before midnight. All timings listed are in Singapore time (+8 GMT).
- Pick at least 3 of the prompts to write about. 5 is best, of course! 😉
- We also ask that you share this main link to at least one of your social media outlets within the same month.
- Failure to follow these rules might get you blacklisted from future linkups. Let’s keep it fair for all 🙂
Prompts for the Month
- Justifying
- Starting
- Analysing
- Concluding
- Planning
As a person with chronic illness, I often feel guilty and as if I have to justify the time I take to rest or recover. This may affect our family, spouses, friends, colleagues, etc. You could also be justifying something for a cause or person, or maybe just need some justification to buy that pretty dress or pain relief tool!
Starting can be both a good and bad word. You could be starting a new venture, hobby, treatment, family, relationship, job, etc. You could also be starting to slide backwards mentally, physically, or in your goals and habits.
As chronic illness patients we are often analysing our medical reports and symptoms together with our doctors. You could also be analysing your home or work environment, your sense of identity, where you are in life, or even data at work or from your blog!
The point of analysis is often to draw conclusions, in order to find solutions. When you have an unexplained symptom or pain, conclusions can bring relief as they lead to action plans. You could also be concluding a chapter in your life, drawing conclusions about a certain situation, or from a report. Or maybe you’ve been drawing conclusions out of fear or imagined scenarios – that’s also okay and don’t be afraid to share.
Pacing is what a lot of spoonies try to do in order to maintain some quality of life. This involves planning on a daily basis, that also requires flexibility due to the everchanging nature of chronic illness. You might also be planning something fun like your next holiday or birthday party, a trip to the theatre or a summer reading list. Or you could be planning to start a scary treatment or unknown venture. Let us know!
You can find the previous linkups on this page, if you needed reference or wanted to read them.
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Good morning, I think this is a great idea for anyone who feels isolated, would like advice or even to share some good news /advice…A great idea and to limit the audience will keep it on topic 🙂
Thank you Carol for the encouraging words and positive feedback! It’s currently a small community, but anyone with an illness is welcome to join or not join every month 😀