I’ve been having a bit of an existential crisis lately. Not to the point that I’m so much as questioning everything in my life, but more why I have I set myself up for failure. I’m launching a book in a few weeks; I’m throwing a launch party and have been posting the link to said book all over social media in a bid to drum up interest. I’ve told EVERYONE – including the bin-man and local window cleaner. I’m both excited and absolutely terrified in equal measures. I say ‘failure’ because one of the great qualities of my personality is my ability to jump straight to the pinnacle of anxiety by assuming the Worst Case Scenario wherever possible.
I don’t always feel this abject terror. It often comes then leaves just as quickly; much like a selfish lover.
But I do feel it today. I feel a panic of “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” / “WHO WILL READ THIS?!” / “WHY DO YOU THINK YOU ARE SUCH AN EXPERT?!” – all valid questions I grant you. Because these queries buzz about my head like doubting Thomases’ around … Jesus? IDK I appreciate I’ve gone off-piste here, but what I’m trying to say is that it makes it harder to focus on why I am doing what I am doing.
I have spent over a year of my spare time writing a book about my experiences in living with Crohn’s Disease because I want to show the wider world that there is life beyond chronic illness. When I was diagnosed I was utterly terrified of what the future held for me; or even if there was a future. I didn’t want to live in constant pain and I didn’t want to be ‘different’. The truth was of course, I always had been. I just didn’t know it. I started my blog to help myself – it was a marvellous and magical coincidence that it helped others – so now I write to help people like you.
I don’t profess to be an ‘expert’ on all things IBD – I don’t have an encyclopaedic medical knowledge and I don’t know what some things/symptoms/medications feel like because I haven’t done/experienced everything. Neither have you.
But I do know how it feels to live with a chronic and debilitating illness. I know how it can and does affect every aspect of your life and I know some ways to make life feel a little bit better. Many of those ‘ways’ involve medication strong enough to flatten an elephant but again I’m not a Doctor here so please seek medical advice before popping pills galore. Primarily talking about your condition helps - especially with people who love you – or/and with people who understand what you are going through.
But haud the bus here, I’m, not giving up all my tips and tricks away gratis! – my publisher would have my (remaining) guts for garters.
So I am probably contractually obliged to say that you can sign up to email alerts for my book Go Your Crohn Way here:
And/or pre-order it from Amazon here:
So while I certainly struggle with the idea of actual real life humans reading my ramblings I hope you know that I write for you and for me; life is tough and I want to make it less tough for you if I can. That’s why with every copy of my book will be a voucher for enough drugs to flatten an elephant.
KIDDING, MUM.
