So it begins...

In one crazy moment, I decided to sign up for National Health Blog Post Month.
Basically it's where I blog about my health every day for the month of November. I'm still trying to decide if that's crazy or not...
Given that I am lucky to brush my hair for 30 consecutive days, I'm a little worried about how this will go. I'm also going to try to do Nano again this year (Just for fun! because writing 50,000 words in one month is always just for fun!) so we'll see where this month takes me.

Day 1: Why I write about my health...
I'm finding this to already be a hard question. Why do I blog about my health? Why does it come up in my writing, here, in my novels, everywhere? And then I realize it's because being sick is such a huge part of who I am.
It's not an easy concept trying to write down why I write about my health. Why I write about it today might be different then why I write about it tomorrow, or why I started writing about it when I started this blog. I just write about my experiences, which are largely influenced by my medical conditions.
When I started blogging all those years ago, I was just going to write about my life. I think, for me, it's always been just writing about my life.
I've learned that being sick, being a patient, it can be very dis empowering. It can rob you of your voice, of feeling what you're feeling, even. It's single handedly the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. It's scary at times, usually pretty emotional. It's so easy just to lose yourself, to become a patient, to become your illness.
Every time I write (whether that be here, or in a novel, or in my journal) I'm taking back a piece of myself. Just for that minute, while I write, everything is ok. I am whole again, everything is ok, nothing else matters.
I have discovered that, through blogging, my voice about my situation can become a voice for others. It can inspire them, give words to their feelings, reach out and touch people and let them know they're not alone. I think that's the biggest reward that comes out of blogging.
This blog has helped me raise awareness for illnesses like GSD and Dysautonomia. It's helped me find my voice. Writing a blog, and reading other people's blogs, inspire me daily, not just in writing, but in living a life with chronic illness. I guess you could say they give me hope.

So there you go, that's a few of the reasons why I blog.