Category: M.E

community, creativity, M.E

Starting a podcast

Kirstie Sivapalan

As a recent podcast obsessive, I am very much looking forward to adding this to my list of regular listens. A great idea and great premise for exploring the reality of living with M.E. Will let Daniel explain further…

The Low Side

Starting an ME and chronic illness podcast. 

A friend, Dov Zeller and I are starting a podcast about living with ME and chronic illness, creativity and making meaning. We’re really different people, living on different continents. I’d be happy spending an afternoon watching two football matches in a row. Dov would be found researching for his latest book and making Tempeh when his energy allows. I have followed his culinary lead occasionally and made sauerkraut in the past although I used too much salt and it sat in the back of the fridge for far too long!

If might be that we’re an unlikely pairing but sometimes unlikely works well. We met on twitter back when it was a healthier place and we talk on zoom every two or three weeks. What we do have in common though is a love for photography, a desire to discuss deeper things in…

View original post 491 more words

M.E, Politics

Mini-Roll: Social noise and evil genius

Kirstie Sivapalan

Last week and the weekend held two big events for me: M.E. Awareness Week and Eurovision. For the former, I had written a fictional story about living with what is now firmly moderate M.E. I also waded back in to the increasingly scummy waters of the bird site where a lot of the M.E. community… Continue reading Mini-Roll: Social noise and evil genius

creative writing, M.E

Drained – a short story for M.E. Awareness Week 2023 (5 min read)

Kirstie Sivapalan

It was there the last time she looked. But this time - Nothing. Where the hell did it go? Where did it all go?  She stared at the moulded plastic thing on the counter: gleefully orange, punctured with rows of neat little holes in and around its curved bottom. Cauliflower? Something like that but not… Continue reading Drained – a short story for M.E. Awareness Week 2023 (5 min read)

Close up of a packaged Cadbury's Mini-Roll on a dark wooden table. Packaging features the phrase "I'm on a Roll"
creative writing, M.E, Politics

Mini-Roll 2.0 – What a day this year has been

Kirstie Sivapalan

There are three days that exist for me between January and April: my husband's birthday, Imbolc (aka St Bridget's day where I do some hippy crystal-meditationy stuff) and my birthday. The rest of the days are just that: REST. If I do get to do anything outside of these days it's a bonus. I have… Continue reading Mini-Roll 2.0 – What a day this year has been

Close up of a packaged Cadbury's Mini-Roll on a dark wooden table. Packaging features the phrase "I'm on a Roll"
Advocacy, creative writing, M.E, Politics, Social change

Mini-roll

Kirstie Sivapalan

M.E. Life, politics and social angst The posts below are now an archive. Latest entries for what is now Mini-roll 2.0 can be found here.  Each entry is usually no more than 2-3 mins to read. What is a mini-roll? Inspired by the UK "mini" Budget, I'm starting a series of "mini" blog posts about… Continue reading Mini-roll

community, M.E, mental health, wellbeing, Work

Dear M.E. Ally

Kirstie Sivapalan

It's about Time Dear M.E. Ally This blog post is for you, and it's about Time. Time as something finite, something precious and something unequally distributed amongst us, especially pwME. (The abbreviation pwME is a shorthand for people with M.E. used on socials which I will be using here). Settle in as it’s long and… Continue reading Dear M.E. Ally

creative writing, M.E, Poetry, Spirituality

Return of the Sun

Kirstie Sivapalan

A Winter Solstice Prayer for the sick Winter Solstice dawn 22 December 2021 Let me streak the sky gold with my fingers thenBreathe in its frosted kiss to quench my lungs.Let the brightening Sun soak through my skinAnd Light be all throughout reflected, returning the forces that nourish my frame.Yet, let the cool of the… Continue reading Return of the Sun

Advocacy, M.E, Social change

Shake it UP

Kirstie Sivapalan

Did you know in the UK that if you got sick and your doctor recommended a non-pharmaceutical therapy that made you worse there is currently NO mechanism to report to this? If they prescribe drugs that cause further sickness then we have the Yellow Card reporting system but if it's physical exercise or psychotherapy which… Continue reading Shake it UP

creative writing, M.E, social media, Truth and Perspective

Collateral damaged

Kirstie Sivapalan

Warning: This post contains my thoughts on vaccine harm following the covid-19 vaccine. It is neither anti nor pro. I remain committed to the protection of public health through social distancing, mask-wearing and immunisation, and I would have a further dose of a vaccine myself if one was provided which does not lead to the… Continue reading Collateral damaged

creative writing, Gratitude, M.E, Poetry

Treasure

Kirstie Sivapalan

I couldn't sleep. I had insomnia at both ends of the night, one of the features of M.E that I struggle with the most. I finally gave up around 6am and, with my stomach also awake, I decided to get up, go downstairs, make myself a cup of tea and treat myself to some ginger… Continue reading Treasure