Category Archives: Inspiration

MCS Awareness Month fb Page

May is MCS Awareness Month, and there’s a new fb page just for this!

If you are on fb, please go “like” the new page, and then click on ‘following’ to choose “see first” so that you can see all the curated material that will get shared over the course of the month, making it easy for you to ‘like’ and share the posts with your fb (and other social media) circles.

As many have noted,  much of the world has had to adopt a ‘lifestyle’ much like we human canaries and other people with disabilities have been living for years, albeit without so many of the additional challenges that disabilities and chronic illnesses bring to surviving daily life.

It would be nice to think that this small taste of what we have been living for a long time will bring about more compassion, empathy, and changes of heart that will inspire people to remove accessibility barriers and welcome us in the world when everyone else is released from isolation.

To that end, we need people to know we exist, as more often than not, there is little to no understanding, or it is trivialized. Sharing info on social media is known to create change, so let’s all be a part of making a better, healthier, and accessible world for everyone.

p.s.

Please leave a comment here if you know of any other groups or people who have organized events or material for MCS (and related) Awareness Month 2020, so that we can all support each other.

Why I LOVE Having Environmental “Sensitivities”

Guest post

In all of this I don’t have a permanent place to stay and paid rent to a landlord who won’t fix anything, my apartment insurance cut me off and won’t help with my possessions, my medicare health insurance is not covering the health aspect and my one doctor wants me to see a doctor out of province which is not covered, and my social assistance did not pay me my disability this month, and family does not understand any of this….At this point I have nothing to lose and everything to gain….I AM MOVING FORWARD!

~ Marie LeBlanc, Manitoba, Canada

brick-walking-8-abcde

Vita

VITA

When humanity holds the future of life, as we know it, in their hands…

 let’s hold life with love…

 

Can You Imagine A World Where…

imagine a world

Can you imagine a world where it’s unacceptable to profit from polluting people and the environment we all depend on for life?

Someone imagined it was ok to pollute for profit, it wasn’t always happening or acceptable.

What if it’s possible to live good lives while looking after the planet and each other?

For things to change, we have to imagine something different first.

Then, if we can imagine it, we can work together to make it happen!

which world do we want 2

Creative, Less Toxic, and Eco-Friendly Christmas Decor Ideas

The ideas and photos I am sharing are not designed specifically for people with MCS/ES, but they can be easily adapted to meet our needs.

The majority of people who celebrate Christmas do it with decorations, parties, and gifts, perhaps  with a visit to church, if possible. For people with MCS/ES, all of these traditions, as currently practiced, can be seriously problematic, if not downright impossible.

chapel of thanksgiving square dallas philip johnson

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

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.”

Stepping 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…

View original post 1,156 more words

Nature and Creativity

Sometimes it’s nice to take a break, and if possible, get creative.
Being and playing in nature is especially soothing and healing, and usually offers a variety of non-toxic materials to express our creativity with.
For some of us, getting away isn’t always an option, so here are a couple of videos to provide some much needed respite and perhaps some inspiration too.

and a jazzy little clip here:

I hope you enjoy this little break as much as I did.

Check out his website for more: http://www.gravityglue.com/

Michael Grab gravityglue.com

Michael Grab
gravityglue.com

Albert Once Said

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

Where Are We Going?

I have done a lot of thinking (when brain fog isn’t an issue) about my life, where I’ve come from, where I am, and where I am going… Over the years I’ve also tried to understand how things end up the way they are, how policy decisions are made, and how our own decisions and actions (or lack there-of) affect our future and how future generations will live.

We live in some very challenging times, and it can get quite over-whelming and depressing when we see that our so called “leaders” are taking actions that will make things worse for everyone.

I don’t like feeling hopeless. For lack of a better word right now, it feels yucky! And having a chronic, environmentally linked condition means I already have more than enough yuck in my life.

I think we have more power and capabilities than we understand or give ourselves credit for, but it’s not easy discovering how to access them.

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Doing The Best We Can

Sometimes I forget to mention that I have been on this path of learning for many, many years. I did not learn all this overnight, and I continue to learn something new each day.

Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.

Do the best you can until you know better.
Then when you know better, do better.

I know a lot of people become overwhelmed when learning the reasons behind our deteriorating quality of life. We can make many mistakes and more than a few excuses.

Change can also be more challenging when we don’t have general support. I also post more of what we need to avoid instead of inspirational or alternative things to do, because the safer alternatives are generally so simple (or should be) although some are still sometimes hard to find commercially.

When I am more able, and if people want, I hope to offer more ideas on possible directions to move towards, instead of so many to move away from. For now, I am doing the best I can presenting information on issues that have an adverse impact on our health and well-being, as so many people still have absolutely no idea.

So, when I found this photo with this quote, it resonated deeply, as it is what I have been endeavoring to do all this time, and I share it with you in hopes that it makes life easier for you too.

“Do the best you can until you know better.
Then when you know better, do better.”

Maya Angelou

(With thanks to FB Treasured Sentiments for creating the image)