Category Archives: Friendship

My Niece Said It Was Easy!

Posted on January 9, 2016 | 6 comments

Guest post by Sandra McPherson

I have a niece who moved back from out west just a year or so ago. I love her dearly. Her son that she had so much difficulty to have is named Owen. I lost a son named Owen and she contacted me to tell me she wanted to name him after my son unless it would upset me. She is so thoughtful!

I was sucking it up and inviting her here to my place, (safe place) for meals and visits now and then when I was strong enough. Her laundry fragrances and personal products were hard on me but it was only every few months, though I wished it could be more. We talked often about my MCS because she saw me go from a person that was at EVERY party and kid sport gathering and family get together, etc., etc., to a hermit.

inside outside

I had not seen her in several months and she inquired about getting together again. We set up a date for lunch at my place again.

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Posted in Environmental Health, Fragrance, Friendship, Health

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An Open Letter to the Scented

Posted on December 12, 2015 | 13 comments

Guest post by Debbie Clark Seely

Dear friends,

I wanted to take the time to write this letter because we (the “unscented” community) are concerned for you. With it being the holiday season we are seeing multiple reports of friends and family members choosing to cut ties to their unscented loved ones rather than make the effort to visit them unscented. This perplexes us. It makes us feel like you are choosing scent over a human being. Continue reading →

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Posted in Accessibility, Air Quality, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Friendship

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A Fine Fragrance for a Special Valentine

Posted on February 12, 2015 | 5 comments

This is special, so special that you might be inspired in ways that surprise you!

MYSTERY 2MYSTERY… Should we trust the fragrance industry with our loved ones health?

We could buy products that are made by a self regulated industry that believes it’s ok to include many harmful chemicals (derived from petroleum and other fossil fuels) in their products (according to their member’s voluntary disclosure of over 3000 ingredients, which is as close to disclosure as they come) or we can show our love for each other by doing things that nurture long term health and well-being for each other and the planet we all depend on for life.

The choice is ours once we know it exists.

Here are a few more nourishing ideas for gifts of love:

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5 Comments

Posted in Air Quality, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Friendship

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A (Virtual) Gift Bag for You

Posted on December 23, 2014 | 11 comments

I recently received a virtual gift from a friend and wanted to make my own version to share with you, because I know how difficult life can get, especially when we are isolated and facing challenges most people cannot relate with.

Here then is the gift bag I created for you!

For YOU

♥

Even though I am totally housebound, with no family at home, with little to no ability to visit with them or friends, either here or anywhere, due to my severe MCS/ES, I found this article from Toni Bernhard to have some lovely, helpful coping ideas. I’m sharing it with you  in case you find yourself alone, or having to bow out of gatherings, if you find yourself in need of more tools to try out, whether or not it’s the holiday season:

How to Ease the Pain of Isolation During the Holidays
Three simple practices can help you feel less alone during the holidays.

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Posted in Accessibility, Friendship, Healthy Environment, Mental Health

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Day 256 In the Pursuit of Love (IIAW A “Sister’s” Journey)

Posted on September 12, 2014 | Leave a comment

Colleen and her friend Beth discuss statistics and friendship challenges and benefits in another revealing post for Invisible Illness week…
Just like Colleen waited for years to get officially diagnosed with MCS, so did I, and for mainly the same reasons.
I knew that the doctors at the time knew nothing about it (or they would have given me a clue as to what the early signs were years ago).
Eventually I came to realize that statistics ARE important (to decision makers), and if we don’t make the effort to get an official dx (I say effort, because many people go from uneducated doctor to uneducated doctor for years… see my post about good news for Ontario to understand what a major deal the announcement of training 2 doctors in environmental health is) then in the eyes of decision makers, we do not exist.
That means that services for us continue to not exist also…
But when we speak up, things change.
I love how Colleen is speaking up, and how her friends are too!

Colleen's avatarLife in the City with a Future

PERSON

Image17meshovelFor day 5 of Invisible Illness Awareness Week, my buddy Beth has agreed to give her perspective of what it is like having a friend disabled from MCS. In a Canadian study, in 2010, over 800,000 people were diagnosed with MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivities) an 31% increase in 5 years. Those during the same time period with one or more of Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, and MCS were 1,415,000 (a 25% increase). This study excluded children with MCS and focused mostly on people with MCS diagnosed by a doctor. I personally went undiagnosed for decades. I avoided the triggers of perfume as much as I could. I figured there was nothing a doctor could do for me anyway and why be just another statistic. I now understand how important it is for our governments to have accurate statistics. The more people who give MCS a voice — the more likely we…

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Posted in Change, Chemicals, Disability, Education, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Friendship, MCS/ES

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It’s What You Can’t See that Hurts You

Posted on September 10, 2014 | 9 comments

What it can be like having a friend with MCS… from a real friend <3
“I would go through all those steps, put on my safe clothes and Colleen would still say “Nope. Still contaminated.” I wanted to punch something. Here I would do just about anything for a friend, and it still didn’t work. It didn’t dampen her spirits, though. After that happened, she would just smile and say how I had worked harder than anyone else to solve this problem, and it was too bad that it hadn’t worked. That really didn’t help me much. I still felt frustrated.”

Joe's avatarStepping Out with an Agoraphobic

Invisible Illness

This week is National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week. It runs through September 14th. It was suggested to me that I write about my experiences in dealing with my illnesses, and I will – perhaps at a later date. Instead of looking within myself, I thought I would broaden the scope of my focus and talk about an invisible illness that has hit close to home, and changed how I live my life.

To have a loved one succumb to an illness is one of the most painful things imaginable – and that pain applies to friends, as well as to family. What is even worse is when that illness is new, uncommon, or even invisible. This is what has been happening to my friend, Colleen, who has Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, a crippling disease that has rendered her disabled.

I must admit that sometimes I don’t feel like…

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Posted in Disability, Environmental Health, Environmental Sensitivities, Fragrance, Friendship, Inspiration, MCS/ES, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, Support

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How to Lose All Your Friends

Posted on May 8, 2014 | 33 comments

Guest Post by Candy Martin

1) Firstly get an illness/disease that no one has ever heard of. As everyone knows everything about every disease that exists, what you have can’t possibly be true or real as they have never heard of it.

2) Try to explain your illness to your friends. They still won’t believe you because they still haven’t heard of it, and frankly your explanation bores them.

3) Try to give a clearer explanation, because YOU REALLY WANT THEIR UNDERSTANDING. Now you will be accused of complaining or of being negative because you have talked about your illness for more than 1 minute.

4) Try to explain why their suggestions to get well aren’t feasible. Now you’re just being difficult and are not worth “helping” any more. Despite knowing nothing about your illness they “know’’ that exercise will help, getting out more will help, eating magic marshmallows will help etc etc. (Even if your Dr advises against it)

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33 Comments

Posted in Disability, Environmental Health, Friendship, Health

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Put Away Your Devices and Look Around

Posted on May 5, 2014 | 6 comments

put away your devices

For some of us, this (electronic social media) is all we have to ease our isolation, not because people won’t put down their wireless devices (although this is a factor for reasons not brought up in the video), but because people won’t stop buying and using products made with fragrance and other toxic chemicals.

A lot of people and sites are sharing this video (it has been viewed over 17 million times in the week since it was posted, and with good reason). Too bad there is no mention of the adverse health effects wireless radiation can cause.

♥

What else aren’t we seeing?

6 Comments

Posted in Accessibility, Fragrance, Friendship, MCS/ES

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Who Likes Ad Free Blogs?

Posted on March 14, 2014 | 3 comments

I do! I do!

Almost a year ago I paid extra to keep this blog free of ads (ads which I have no control over).  The year is about to expire, but I can’t afford to pay now, so if anyone would like to help keep this blog ad-free, please head over to the DANA page, scroll down to the bottom (with or without reading the whole page),  and click on “donate”.

ads or no ads

The decision rests with you!

♥

3 Comments

Posted in Friendship, Mental Health

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Albert Once Said

Posted on February 8, 2014 | 2 comments

Einstein and Compassion

“A human being is part of a whole, called by us the ‘Universe,’ a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

~ Albert Einstein

♥

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Posted in Friendship, Inspiration, Interconnectedness

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