The Stories We Make of Our Lives
Our podcast is hosted on Spotify and Anchor.
Throughout our lives we are told ‘stories’ by others about who we are and what our experience means. When we live with chronic illness, a lot of these 'stories' are incredibly disempowering. In this webinar BJ Miller and Michelle Irving discuss how we create an empowering story of chronic illness that doesn't require us to be triumphant but rather reflects the grit, vulnerability and magnificence we are already embodying.
Michelle takes us through a step-wise approach of thinking about your story as relates to illness. What was your experience of illness? What was your experience of wellness? What did you inherit from your family?
We discuss:
0:00 Introductions
5:27 Making our lives sacred, how to honor all the parts of ourselves
6:47 How is illness treated in our culture? Expecting that life will resume again when you get “better”
8:35 Our bodies are organic, the breakdown of a body is normal
9:40 Chronic illness and disability; where are the intersections?
12:49 Our own thoughts around being ill: what is our experience vs. everyone else’s? Everyone else’s story about you may not be supportive or helpful - where can you be you?
14:12 What is the story of illness in your family? What is the narrative you’ve inherited? Is it helping? Or hurting?
25:00 There are parts of ourselves that we may silence, or our response to others may not include what we’re really feeling
33:22 Once you have an idea of what your story is, you can be more playful and connected with yourself. What is the title of your story in this moment?
44:08 What roles do you play in this story? What role are you playing that everyone else is assigning you? You get to decide your role.
50:15 What about chronic illnesses? Specifically lyme disease, how to deal with invisible issues - where can you find compassion for yourself?
54:18 Navigating life through the lens of story
55:18 Creative practices to share when dealing with pain or illness?
57:03 Suggestions to help with vertigo specifically?
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