https://unwellandgood.com/blog daily 0.75 2024-11-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/0a25dbca-a10c-404a-b598-7eb9401b04ff/IMG_3058.jpeg Blog Posts - My tenuous voyage into being chronically unwell https://unwellandgood.com/blog/still-here monthly 0.5 2024-11-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/f3939b39-675e-4fb0-96b1-51fbff8f5146/IMG_5594.jpg Blog Posts - still here - I’m not faded or invisible or less. I’m here, solid, made of matter. My matter didn’t betray me like I said it did in my first blog post. My matter, my body, was always doing all it could. I used to revere the idea of Mind Over Matter, but that’s only a way to divide myself, ignoring my body’s messages until I became too unwell. It was a way to stand against the current of dark rivers, and then rage against them when I was sick. I’ve tried so hard to be well, to be happy and whole and that’s what matters. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/8fcac588-50f1-458f-815c-ee6548e82ae5/C27CAA2A-CC58-4CAF-B83A-847F696D7941.jpg Blog Posts - still here https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/c6e14487-2a18-4060-9a31-36e72d146953/734939E7-C17F-4ACF-98A2-E197B8C35E8F.jpg Blog Posts - still here https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/0604e0ab-6fb4-4f3a-8574-a564115928e1/IMG_3366.jpeg Blog Posts - still here - But I don’t know that being milled has made me any less than I was before. Rather than bouldering forcefully down one path, I want to sift painlessly through life, with life, swimming downstream and letting things fall as they will. To experience peace not from being the master of fate, but mastering how the dust settles. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/790b4d80-7cf0-4b0d-9cf5-91bc5055bf6b/IMG_4449.jpg Blog Posts - still here - Still Here https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/3d698a52-7127-46ca-8a02-ca5346810a60/IMG_2534.jpg Blog Posts - still here - Unwell, stuck. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/2f120da5-73e7-4852-b3cd-d89f60505ef4/IMG_2313.jpg Blog Posts - still here - I can enjoy the full stretch of my limbs, the heavy pull when slipping to sleep. Revel in the safety of a loved one’s arms, dry sheets on clean skin in a quiet room. How it feels as soles slip against the slick of a trampoline, padding against cool tiles on a hot day, finding purchase against the rough bark of a tree, balancing on shifting pebbles in a lake. Toes digging into plush carpet, the grass, the sand. I can know the crickets at dusk, the tūī at dawn, cicadas in the summer, meet mornings both wet and cold and crystal bright. Witness the turn of the earth, feel the kiss and scratch of rain and sun. The smell of Mānuka, coffee, and smoke. Hot showers and goosebumps. Music, a good book, rain and candles. I can let the wind greet my cheeks like it’s missed me. Let my skin redden, ears sting, eyes salt. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1611896116784-NJSNN5SL9E0LMYPBC96R/Screenshot+2021-01-28+at+18.37.06.png Blog Posts - still here To rub salt in the wound, the World seems to scream at me that internal struggles (that aren’t quickly resolved), are somehow, someway, self-inflicted. We crave explanation, cause and effect, desperately wishing to have control and if not control, then understanding. No one wants to believe terrible things can happen to them, inexplicably, at any point. Easier to believe it was, in part, their fault, preventable, treatable. They didn’t manifest a happy life, they didn’t deal with trauma right, they didn’t eat, move, think or sleep right. They aren’t like you. Bad genes maybe? Negative mindset? Weak? Drama queen? Just depressed? A lost cause? And if I blame myself, that it’s all my fault in some way, I would then, at least, have the power to change it. The doubt, the disbelief, the confusion about chronic illness, about my own circumstances is a muted, yet chronic, humming. I can feel it even when it’s rarely said directly, instead with looks, tones, the media, politics and thoughtless comments. Why would anyone ever live this way, by choice? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/ec93533c-e764-4d80-bf21-982abbff382d/IMG_2876.JPG Blog Posts - still here - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/eb0a27a9-33d3-4ea2-8d24-bee421b528ea/38E9B4EC-EFE0-42BD-B7FF-47C9ED4266B3.jpg Blog Posts - still here - Make it stand out Cortisol face (from medication, steroids/prednisone/LD Ami etc.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/16f0dd20-9828-43d0-9b74-dbbf43f51e59/IMG_3520.jpg Blog Posts - still here - Being at the mercy of inevitable change sounds disempowering. But we can react to the circumstances of our reality. The ability to respond, endless choices in what we do next. A constant tit-and-tat interaction between us and the great void. Steering our ship through thick black galaxies of possibility. When our boats violently rock on troubling crests in the ocean of the universe, we get (limited, yet still present) choices in how to respond to changes in our path; push forward? Backwards? Stop? Change speed or course? Worry? Jump? Sometimes our choices are far more limited; we’re tipped overboard, and the boat is gone. No matter how much you would choose a new vessel, it isn’t available to you. I cannot decide to be un-sick. I choose to try and heal, but I cannot manifest this from want alone, or perhaps at all myself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/ba426ad2-9198-4de7-98a7-5f31aa03098d/IMG_2774.jpeg Blog Posts - still here I’ve struggled a lot recently if recently can be considered several years. I’ve decided to lay some of it out, if not to capture how I’ve felt, then to release it. Being sick has thrown my life into an unforgiving tailspin, one that’s been dark and soaked in challenges. I’ve disconnected from many things in my efforts to get better and ignore being unwell. Chronic illnesses can be incredibly isolating, physically, socially and mentally. I’ve become an audience member to so much of ‘normal’ life, everything that was once inherently easy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/e526566b-12d1-44f1-a50a-5b7ea18367e4/IMG_2219.jpeg Blog Posts - still here I can stop my soul from paling in the shadows of my biggest expectations and colour it with the abundance of life’s tiny wonders. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/62ee0811-b9a9-4183-8caa-3eadf9b6c382/IMG_3367.jpeg Blog Posts - still here - I haven’t posted anything here since 2020. Partially because I thought I’d said everything I needed to; but more honestly, to wait until I could say I’m better now and this is what I’ve learned https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/c979e63a-5cad-45db-b673-46feaa8550aa/IMG_3359.jpeg Blog Posts - still here - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/54ff5516-92d8-45dd-bea6-03dc182602ad/IMG_3370.jpeg Blog Posts - still here However, I’m not drowning, I’m treading water, it’s mostly dark, lonely and uncomfortable. Sometimes it’s scary and bone-numbingly exhausting. Sometimes I consider letting myself drop beneath the surface, but I always come back up for air. And sometimes I feel a current carry me, I rest, and the darkness feels again like a comforting blanket, a canvas of endless opportunity. https://unwellandgood.com/blog/csxacaqqd5mg0jloj9sk910yf1kar9 monthly 0.5 2024-11-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1587174283990-ESKK4W0WR9I6KSUO6OZ0/1C20EB7D-4E3E-425A-A70C-C5A468044065.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: Quick disclaimer: Please only read from a place of compassion, this is personal, this is a task of honesty and unloading for me & I’ve mustered some catharsis with a full-stop (There’s no room for judgment, my long narcissistic outpour is big-enough already). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1586301372159-8EVIJMQHW4VGVFVFHNF1/IMG_6944.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1588130556149-TJGN7ZOSVCQ74U3MCTP8/Adjustments.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: - In our SouthEast Asian ventures through Bali, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Vietnam and Cambodia we encountered a colourful array of challenges, ‘missing’ luggage (RIP our Nike slides and the aforementioned macrame decor), scary bugs, scams (in many inventive forms), misguided directions, realising at dusk that we were indeed lost, having to wash our ruined clothes in showers with complimentary shower gel and, with regret, resorting to tonic water to clean our teeth with. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1587179755049-SHUA97BD3QXZ4TBBLS25/image-asset.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: - I’ve become afraid of what lays ahead - forced to a realisation that there’s no choices, only that I must tolerate suffering, with no escape route & without the reassurance that if I persevere it will eventually pass. What if it doesn’t - as it hasn’t? What if that one week that turned into seven months turns into me? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1588046003016-JJ0PAUQIJODQQR8D5UN2/0C4D62C9-D3D6-4A81-806D-3BC1ADDB1DBC.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: - Some tough thoughts on getting really sick & not getting better: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1587180568914-5QWF55UPEIRZ6C25U9YO/image-asset.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: I hope that I might shed understanding &/or this might resonate with another person that is suffering or knows someone who is suffering with pain & discomfort chronically, with or without diagnosis. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1585876281286-NSDASOOI75DA0ZF6SR4E/C211036D-B6DA-479D-8D2F-703AB4509AE0.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: With the sun setting we wound into the mountains of rural China in search of our vessel, which rested somewhere on the Yangtze river. As midnight drew in we arrived at the Ghost City, a stretching, unlit path, of floating barrels awaited to take us aboard our Chinese tour boat. After trying/failing to negotiate Wifi and a few drinks with a Welsh family and some locals, we settled into the least luxurious ensuite cabin you can possibly picture. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1588051459978-8564M3CNHW9IP9DEQTKU/701D6917-C4DC-4CE1-8278-E95E97809F0C.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: - The onboard chemist used a translator App to get me to take an IV on a dubious massage chair and drink unknown inky-black Chinese herbal medicine and take piles of antibiotics and pain-relief for an unknown diagnosis. I thought I was dying, I wanted to fall off the boat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1585866641148-Z324XRXIZDIPJVZSOZEP/DB073198-D51C-4744-B0AE-0222E0C04E52_1_201_a.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: - China; https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1588132242512-H2YX12EKNTQXWIQ09KUV/0103F4E4-14B5-4B6F-A9D2-EB21918E161F.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1588132601887-5GZLUL59Q64FEVQJAT9Y/66DD2B20-BF95-4A0B-BA2A-4CF7BB87A77C.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1587177319165-CPUTMQTE9Q6OZ70W838W/6BFE7036-898B-487F-BCBE-10AB4B6ECE3C.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1588142212221-7UYU0OIPTYB2MU0U80L4/IMG_3339.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1588142258342-C79ZY7VSXE0H5FAHNKSR/IMG_3398.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1587178309150-I85B3L1TK5DQ7AM229CM/00D461F1-9ED7-4187-B31C-B67545AFB853.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: - Many insurance calls, antibiotics, misdiagnoses (Kidney stones, PID), random infections (including an unexplained cervix infection) and after a long stay with family in the UK, the battle was lost. We tried our best to enjoy the last moments and came home, feeling a bit sheepish and defeated. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1587177934994-W02Y6G4EQ579SXLOJO1G/IMG_7658.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: We had our hearty fill of dumplings, noodles, skyscrapers, rainforests and paddies; and made some of our favourite memories, with new friends in unexpected locations. After climbing waterfalls, sunrises and temperatures, we arrived to the smog and heavy warmth of Chinese summer, with new skill sets in haggling, an ability to conversate in single-phrases and lots of hanging macrame plant pots (later stolen). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1588131424558-32H3D70W5QCX3BQE6RIL/Screen+Shot+2019-05-30+at+22.25.11.png Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: Despite all our precautions (centering on not dying from peanut anaphylaxis throughout Asia); it went wrong and we couldn’t get it back in our control. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1588050430571-F41UNVPZ9IWJ3MUEPYH7/IMG_6980.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: - Now I’m facing a different sort of journey than the one I anticipated - https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1588119108524-IBTNRNY3GJ88HJDT52XM/GPTempDownload.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: - Although only modestly planned - it had been a long anticipated adventure, one we had both wanted since school - and I’ll admit I had half hoped to become a changed women as soon as I set my eyes on foreign horizons. It didn’t exactly go like that – it was gradual, letting go of routines isn’t instant, you have to make a routine out of losing one. We had to allow ourselves to sleep early; late, long, often, eat brunch after lunch time and welcome freedom (trying to shake off the urge to over plan itineraries, to do what we wanted - whilst being creative with limited funds). This was time unchecked, freedom to have fun, explore, read, write and to be grateful to let go of the binds of work and study for a little while. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1586300421645-ENDR81ZHP7Q193QPICLK/Screenshot+2020-04-05+at+17.01.20.png Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: - Coming Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1588049855674-1QEY493H5SCZXC7RGMGF/IMG_1520.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: - I still want all the dreams I’ve ever wanted, I want them more, I want them ferociously, unapologetically, I want to be in the sun. I still want all the dreams I’ve ever wanted, I want them more, I want them ferociously, unapologetically, I want to be in the sun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1585866439900-8I6584RRJIPMQKTBI2EV/9BBE4B9D-9444-4A28-A546-8C369A598605_1_201_a.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1585866551055-HXZHH6VWY4EG3XPJT2QE/EC04A3E4-C634-40ED-8B5F-8D904F77BBEC.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1585866459252-G05M0KUUOFSI5SGUY0IZ/54E72CD9-2C76-4E76-988B-A0904F473BDE.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1585866386024-MSAP20OB4INBJURM7L0F/B644E62C-CC7A-4CF1-836D-0E87CC19EE8B.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1585866459863-KDHEUCSIUVJW4T8COPMD/29ED0FCE-B88B-4E72-A82D-7818CF51FD82.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1586301313447-B6IHXQ24MSW1R0MOP52I/IMG_6684.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1585866543223-F41DMSF858YTYKYI20SU/90910843-4BBD-4D98-B724-09CC1ACC439F.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1585866604207-9GBXORRPBR2DASAI4TZ5/3D54FF9B-E7B2-440F-8B43-435435C3F3CE.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1586301329926-YK2J8LZCOJ0DC9BAJ40B/IMG_6557.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1585866507186-9WM2MPI23Q0EATIRDYCU/CDC060AE-FB81-4BC9-B926-2348EE96B832_1_201_a.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1585866622569-3SZI74VVYOSE0NPJLWZF/E0EEDA4E-9517-47DC-A6B9-E820D2D6CEC0.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1586301854235-PCH81L8NFZG1RFIYGUW8/00DDB8A8-0093-4478-8C36-C29A6E062362.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1586301944850-EJ96DB4FRP021R656ACB/59E0DA1E-9C93-4B5E-8B4D-ABAADAAFC351_1_201_a.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1586301935804-VDNHWCI8GSK46KND6OED/F98A64B7-226D-4CF8-89A7-9851F453D5C3.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1586301922693-YF7CMCSWXXRJ61AA02M1/7BB7CC0E-E682-49E4-B911-03BCF1A69C9F.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1588135449176-KDNZ28WPAJ2JS1M3K5NJ/IMG_0953.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1588142001531-HL2BUBR21HX0QG1ZWJMO/IMG_2405.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1588135481446-GKG3Z98CUDUUD213F71T/IMG_0603.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1588130909081-RUV28G4825GLJH0JLA3Q/IMG_0662.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: - South East Asia demands your attention, life squeezes its way between buildings as over sized flora and fauna mount every perch, 96% humidity mixes with the smell of ginger and lemons, pressing onto your skin whilst heat makes its home in every dish (following this we couldn’t travel without a bottle of pocket Tabasco sauce to spice literally everything up). The traffic is always a wave of mopeds and rickshaws rolling with constant shouts, horns and bells - it’s all condensed noise, colour, steam and sunshine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1585877637472-RBULHAE2BBPWNG440LXA/CCD900C5-5361-4346-B1B7-CE45946688CA.jpg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: - Three times a charm; After my symptoms subsided and we finally got to a doctor when arriving in Shanghai (almost a week later) with an apparent infection and dehydration, we decided to continue the trip. I thought, repeatedly, that I was recovering and I tried to move forwards, but the painful and traumatic episodes followed me three more times over a two month period - always when I was in a rural area of a foreign speaking country, always struggling to access healthcare (let alone a hospital) and always with a changing and unconfirmed diagnosis. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1587179491939-OXAFTWD6YJUL48CZMPM3/image-asset.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: - Chronic Pain Pain sends me to bed at 6 pm but keeps me awake for dawn. Daily tasks become ordeals, when a flare up means making a cup of tea is too much. The good days are bad and the bad days are terrible. My mantra towards obstacles having always been ‘mind over matter,’ mocks me, my matter is betraying me, working against me at a cellular level. I’ve felt exhausted, exasperated, because I can’t feel better waiting around to get better. I’ve let go of mourning the year I took from us, all the planning, the time, the savings, if I could simply let go of being unwell too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1585879144457-RNPY2OKIZ0X8209VJ523/98FEB2A3-C936-4282-9EED-A61E161CC43D_1_201_a.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: - Pretending to be okay with chronic pain is the final straw; however it’s one I’m finding that I can (& should) dust-off. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1588048789440-LKS9EP5GW4DZ71WOAUSS/98E8A83C-C9D4-4710-AD9D-694A931E95DE_1_201_a.jpeg Blog Posts - Our Gap Year Derailed - By An Unwelcome Souvenir: - Saudade A Portuguese word that has no direct English translation - can be understood as a deep desire for something or someone that does not & likely cannot exist. — The nostalgic longing for someone or something loved and lost with a subconscious knowledge it may never be had again. https://unwellandgood.com/blog-1 daily 0.75 2025-06-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ced3ca71bd8b30001701f6b/1564584847841-3F6SCVNUQNBC2TP90W09/download-copy%252Bcopy%252B2.jpg Blog - Stanton Food & Recipes With the hyper-convenience of modern life, many of us can only operate a microwave. A home-cooked meal is not a luxury, anyone can do it! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ced3ca71bd8b30001701f6b/1565720463745-1ANG4TLMZ13QS7JP5KIK/stanton-book.jpg Blog - Stanton Recipes Ed. 1 Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugia. https://unwellandgood.com/blog-1/roasted-cauliflower-garlic-dip-kanf3 monthly 0.5 2019-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ced3ca71bd8b30001701f6b/1561658937714-6KEVN9MM8EWAN08W0YML/download+%284%29.jpeg Blog - Roasted Cauliflower & Garlic Dip https://unwellandgood.com/blog-1/broiled-salmon-with-spring-onion-risotto-3an6z monthly 0.5 2019-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ced3ca71bd8b30001701f6b/1561658870083-Z5BJAD6IBTI22A6ZO2SI/download+%283%29.jpeg Blog - Broiled Salmon with Spring Onion Risotto https://unwellandgood.com/blog-1/backyard-cookout-xdzta monthly 0.5 2019-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ced3ca71bd8b30001701f6b/1561658647390-LLMMWK4X9FENMSX7LWLH/download+%281%29.jpeg Blog - Backyard Cookout https://unwellandgood.com/blog-1/roasted-beet-wedges-with-tzatziki-9lsa8 monthly 0.5 2019-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ced3ca71bd8b30001701f6b/1561658990429-D4F177J6TYU2ZLMB1RSW/download+%285%29.jpeg Blog - Roasted Beet Wedges with Tzatziki https://unwellandgood.com/blog-1/cucumber-tomato-salad-5hzy9 monthly 0.5 2019-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ced3ca71bd8b30001701f6b/1559764201682-SCZCX54M9MB6XQBWX78B/image-asset.jpeg Blog - Cucumber Tomato Salad https://unwellandgood.com/blog-1/blueberry-sour-cream-swirl-94a7f monthly 0.5 2019-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ced3ca71bd8b30001701f6b/1559764156011-I58YYEZVPTV9I340PHQL/image-asset.jpeg Blog - Blueberry Sour Cream Swirl https://unwellandgood.com/blog-1/bloody-maria-cocktails-ya2l4 monthly 0.5 2019-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ced3ca71bd8b30001701f6b/1561658779808-29IKSSV4VCKU5OBPP0TD/download.jpeg Blog - Bloody Maria Cocktails https://unwellandgood.com/blog-1/apple-waffles-abr54 monthly 0.5 2019-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ced3ca71bd8b30001701f6b/1559091858313-O6VXO7XBHL6HOC7KTJ8I/image-asset.jpeg Blog - Apple Waffles https://unwellandgood.com/blog-1/asian-pear-apple-pie-4ag5c monthly 0.5 2019-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ced3ca71bd8b30001701f6b/1561658825055-49FLKFQ4INE72C1CUOM5/download+%282%29.jpeg Blog - Asian Pear & Apple Pie https://unwellandgood.com/about daily 0.75 2024-11-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1587171956166-CMUH9IAUIS8GDSVU2KUO/Screenshot+2020-04-18+at+13.03.00.png About Tegenungan Waterfall in Sukawati - Bali https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1588485090558-X3MD3BYUE5YHIN0ES8JW/Adjustments.jpeg About Yu garden - Shanghai https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1587168772202-4S57G5M9NCA7MA6EMXAC/Screenshot%2B2020-04-18%2Bat%2B12.11.34.jpg About June at Puri Gunung Kawi, Bali, Indonesia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/1588485271421-W7LJ986D3A09O43Y4V8X/IMG_8726.jpeg About Singapore in June 2019 https://unwellandgood.com/a-health-journey daily 1.0 2025-10-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/8b74146b-a28e-4037-bf78-93790228b405/IMG_0150.jpeg Home The last few years I have struggled with chronic illness. It made my life smaller. Recently, however, painting has become a tool to celebrate the small and ordinary things that can make up a whole beautiful life. I hope to capture and share a sense of magic, adventure and wonder in the ordinary and natural world. https://unwellandgood.com/art daily 0.75 2025-11-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/2205a37f-5322-4058-8b08-9ef1f041b1a3/IMG_0150.jpeg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/7d8d109c-224a-49e5-896f-08e1e75fd8a6/IMG_1395.jpeg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/c27bc9b0-4ed7-44ba-88c6-0ce1ecbe48ca/IMG_1405.jpeg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/48f0609a-6b30-45eb-a247-0c33b3bd5c10/IMG_0478.jpeg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/848530c4-9d0d-4733-b098-c51696570a08/IMG_0453.jpeg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8556e7bf1511237e839632/a7ebb7fa-9bb8-4a79-8d9e-42a3e4a66591/IMG_1394.jpeg