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Faith & Spirituality• Politics

Calling UK Christians – We Need To Do Better!

People at a Black Lives Matter protest, wearing face masks due to Covid-19, and holding signs which say "if you're not angry then you're not listening" and "black lives matter"

As Christians we are called to stand with the oppressed and to demand social justice, and yet there seems to be a distinct lack of this form UK churches as a whole right now. We need to do so much better.…

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About Me

Hi, I'm Amanda, a 30-something mum to one. Both myself and my husband are chronically ill, and our son has ASD and ADHD. I hope to help others with chronic illness to move from overwhelmed to empowered by encouraging them to prioritise self-care, lean on faith, and build daily practices that are both accessible and affordable. I do hope you'll join me along the way.

I was a BiBs2019 Finalist

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aspiraldance

Spoonie Warrior on a Sacred Healing Journey 🙏🏻Balancing Self Care with Family Life 👨‍👩‍👦
Christian ✝️ New Age Hippie🧘🏻‍♀️ Blogger 👩🏻‍💻 She/Her

Look what just arrived!! My Rhett and Link bobble

Look what just arrived!! My Rhett and Link bobble heads. So funny to think that I only discovered @mythical around this time last year, and now I'm squealing with excitement to receive these 😄 ID: Rhett and Link bobble heads sitting behind the GMM desk, placed in front of the box they came in which has a photo of the studio on it. You can just see the edge if my orange Good Mythical Morning mug off to the right hand side of the photo.

Did you know that there is currently a survey on t

Did you know that there is currently a survey on the government website asking for the lived experiences of disabled people? No, neither did I! Thankfully I found it the other day when someone else shared it, and so I'm sharing it with you too. Because this is important and I want as many of our voices to be heard as possible. You can fill it in either as a disabled person or a carer (paid or unpaid) and the questions you are asked change according to your answers to previous questions, so you don't have to scroll through tons of things that are irrelevant to you. I think it took me about 15-20 minutes to complete. I struggled with some of the scales they provided for judging how things affect me, but overall it was a relatively straight forward survey. And you can save your responses and return to it at another point, so please don't feel you can't take part because it's too much to do in one sitting. You have until 23rd April to submit your responses. And there is a place to share if somebody else has helped you to complete the survey. The UK Equality Act 2010 defines disability as having a, "physical or mental impairment that has a 'substantial' and 'long-term' negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities". So even if, like me, you've struggled with feeling "inadequate" for want of a better word when it comes to claiming the identity of disabled, please do take this opportunity to share your thoughts and experiences with the government. But also look after your own wellbeing. It can be triggering to reflect on how poorly you've been treated. So only do this if you feel able to. And remember I'm always here, as so many in this wonderful community are, if you ever need to chat. The link to the survey is in my bio (currently the second link in the list when you click onto my linktree page). ID: a screenshot of the Disability Unit page on gov.uk introducing the UK Disability Survey showing the closing date of 23rd April 2021 and the opening date of 15th January 2021.

Got pretty darn weepy watching the Inauguration to

Got pretty darn weepy watching the Inauguration today. And I know I'm not the only one. A chink of light in a dark, dark time... ID: a screenshot of the live streaming of the Biden Harris Inauguration ceremony on Twitter, showing President Biden during his speech.

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT ABLEISM - Ableism is a HUGE

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT ABLEISM - Ableism is a HUGE issue in our society, and yet it feels as if hardly anybody outside of the disability and chronic illness community is talking about it. So I wrote a post. It's a long one, and it covers a lot of ground. It took a lot out of me to write it. But it is so important to me and I would really, really appreciate it if you would take the time to read it, learn from it, and share it. Link is in my bio, or head on over to www.aspiraldance.com and it's the first post on the page. ID: a white square with 16 icons on it depicting various forms of disability in black and blue colours. From top left to bottom right these icons are: someone in a wheelchair; a wheelchair in a house; someone in bed; someone helping another person using a cane; an eye with a line drawn diagnonally through it, a pair of dark lensed glasses, two hands using sign language; an ear with two arrows pointing to a hearing aid, someone sitting on a bench, someone using a cane, someone being pushed in a wheelchair; someone using a walking frame; a wheelchair user playing basketball, a wheelchair using a ramp, someone with a prosthetic leg using a cane; and a wheelchair user getting onto a bus. #Ableism #AbleismAwareness #AbleismExists #DisabilityAwareness #Disability #ChronicIllnessAwareness #ChronicIllness #ChronicPain #DisabilityBlogger #ChronicIllnessBlogger

I am currently working on a blog post about ableis

I am currently working on a blog post about ableism and would like to include real life experiences in it. If you'd be happy sharing yours, please let me know in either the comments or a DM, and also let me know if you'd be happy with a link back to your IG account (or blog if you'd prefer). As much as I'd love to say you can write as much as you want, I do need to keep these relatively short. So if you'd like to share your story in more detail at a later point we can talk about a guest post on my blog. ID: white writing on a turquoise background that says "share your experiences of ableism for a blog post I'm working on".

ABLEISM Are you shocked by the statement in this

ABLEISM Are you shocked by the statement in this image? You should be. On Sunday night Lord Sumption told a woman with stage 4 metastatic cancer, "I did not say your life was not valuable. I said it was less valuable." In fact he not only said this to her, but he interrupted her turn to talk in the debate and spoke over her to say this. If you haven't seen the clip, please go and watch it. (I mean those of you who aren't chronically ill or disabled, it could be massively triggering to those of us who already know without a doubt that this is what society thinks of us!) This isn't actually a surprise to me. I already know just how poorly society sees those of us who are ill. But it's still shocking to see someone so brazenly say this on national television without any fear of repercussions. Those of us in the chronic illness and disability communities have been shouting into the void for years. Ableism is rife in our society. People are dying because of it. We cannot access things that we should be able to access, like employment and support. And research funding is appallingly low for many of our conditions, because they are seen as less important than others, despite having more of an impact on our lives. The Covid pandemic has shown us just how little our lives are valued. Things we have asked for for years and been denied, like remote working, have suddenly become possible. People who have repeatedly told us, "it must be wonderful to be at home all day every day" are suddenly realising that actually lockdown is pretty shit, yet there is no acknowledgement that this is our everyday lives and maybe we should be doing something about that. And let's not even talk about the "it's only vulnerable people who will die, I'm alright Jack" attitudes that lead to lockdown breakers, antimaskers, and antivaxxers. It feels like nobody outside of our community is really talking about ableism, and that hurts. We already have to work with limited energy, so having to fight this battle alone is exhausting. Please, please, please, listen to and raise our voices. Join them with your own. We need you! ID: the quote from Lord Sumption in white text on a red background

EDS SYMPTOMS - BRUISING This lovely little bruise

EDS SYMPTOMS - BRUISING This lovely little bruise is thanks to the blood test I had 4 days ago. I pretty much always bruise after a blood test, because easy bruising is just one of the many symptoms that comes with EDS. I regularly find bruises with no idea where I got them 🙃 my dad actually once told me that he was so relieved that my two major head injuries happened at school, as he was always worried social services would turn up one day. Because I was skinny (to the point of being referred to the hospital as clinically underweight as a pre-teen), constantly covered in bruises I couldn't explain, and a regular visitor to A&E thanks to my clumsiness (caused by unstable joints and poor proprioception). EDS is a genetic condition that affects the connective tissue in the body. There are various types of it, some far more problematic than others (when it affects the vascular system, for instance, it can cause major problems). I have the hypermobile form, which means my joints have a tendency to try and pop out of place (thankfully they always pop straight back in and I've never had a full dislocation requiring someone to reset the joint). But I also have problems with my gums despite good dental hygiene, a very delicate digestive system which can be triggered by the most innocuous things, and a tendency for my blood pressure to drop when I move from laying to sitting or sitting to standing. My joints often hurt, my muscles go into spasm a lot, and I fall over my own feet more than I care to admit. And I bruise, really easily. Despite all of these symptoms being around for the vast majority of my life (some developing earlier than others), I was in my early 30s before I was diagnosed with EDS. Meaning I was labelled as "accident prone" as a child, seen as not trying hard enough in PE, and left to deal with random symptoms I didn't understand for so many years. Which is why I'm sharing this here, to raise more awareness of this condition. For more info check out @ehlers.danlos & @ehlersdanlosuk #ehlersdanlossyndrome #hypermobilitysyndrome #zebrastrong #chronicillness #butyoudontlooksick #invisibleillness

Another book post from me... @queerlituk currently

Another book post from me... @queerlituk currently have a sale on that ends today. If, like me, you want to read a more diverse selection of authors this year, don't miss this! I honestly could have filled my basket with so many books, but I do have to think about my bank balance 🤣 so I stuck to the fantasy genre (my favourite) and found 3 books whose blurbs really intrigued me. And then I added a non-fiction book in too, because I like a mixture of fiction and non-fiction on my TBR list. You can also make a donation at checkout towards @lgbtfdn to support LGBTQ+ young people facing domestic violence. So not only are you diversifying your library, you're supporting an independent business and a charity. Seriously, go check out their website, they have different collections you can browse to find the perfect read for you. And let me know what's on your TBR list for this year.

2 for 1 on Audible - who doesn't love a BOGOF sale

2 for 1 on Audible - who doesn't love a BOGOF sale? I'm always filling up my Audible library during these sales (seriously, my library is full of so many books I still need to listen to because of deals like this 🤣). And this month there are some real gems. I really struggled to narrow down my second choice, despite already having quite a few of the books on offer in my library (told ya it was pretty full 😉). I knew I wanted Trans Like Me, but struggled to choose between this one by Brené Brown and one about the etymology of words, because I'll always be a linguist at heart. In the end I chose I Thought It Was Just Me because I feel like it's something I need to listen to as part of my healing journey. I may still use my remaining credit for The Etymologicon though, because the sample did sound incredibly interesting. Tell me, what books do you have on your reading list? ID: screenshots of Amanda's Audible account. The first image shows two books on a black background, with the second book free in the 2 for 1 sale. The second screenshot shows the front cover of the book Trans Like Me by CN Lester. The third image is of I Thought It Was Just Me by Brené Brown.

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