I’ve been invisible on the blogging scene for months now. I couldn’t explain why, but writing just seemed so difficult and I couldn’t put down words – not for the blog nor for reviews. At times the tiredness, fatigue and brain fog has been overwhelming – I accept that depression and Long Covid were setting in too.

My lovely girl undertook an art foundation course at university this year – just the right course to be studying during a pandemic when the universities have had to close their physical doors. Imagine doing an art course over zoom and actually producing the art. So we found ourselves living in an art studio as the paints, pencils, canvases and sculptures gradually infiltrated into every part of the house. Back in the summer you would have been excused for thinking that my washing line was full of dripping body parts! I will explain….

The final project of the year needed to be a piece that would push the lovely girl to her limits creatively and also to explore a subject that she is passionate about. She chose to look at living with chronic illness, with a genetic condition and then more specifically how it feels to live with our genetic condition : Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. Her plan was to make a short film and who better to be her subject than her mother. She spent hours interviewing and recording me, some on good days, others on real brain fog days – I actually sound drunk in some of the recordings, although not a drop of vino had passed my lips! How many people like hearing the sound of their voice? Just imagine hearing it over and over again as it is used for the “sound track” for a film – it was awful. Hearing my speech slurred nearly brought hubby and me to tears.

It was during her time making this film that my lovely girl told me in no uncertain terms that I need to start writing again – she can see a difference in me when I am writing and interacting with my global body of chronic and blogging friends. She is now away at university studying liberal arts and pushing herself out of her comfort zone, and has inspired me to push myself. So without further ado I am sharing the link for our short film with you and hope that this is a fitting re-entry to my blogging world.

“it’s all in your head” https://vimeo.com/548817170