It's entirely reasonable to be frustrated at how much time and energy you're forced to spend coping with and overcoming your trauma when those who traumatised you face no such penalty.

Everyday is International Women's Day when you're an international woman.

You are so much more than a series of lab test results. You are a whole person with thoughts and feelings. Your health conditions are only one facet of the sparkly diamond that you are. More health care workers need to learn to see you like that. 🖤💙😷🥄

Comfort is important. Don't pretend it's a luxury. It's a need. 🖤💙😷🥄

You do not exist for the sole purpose of pleasing others.

Modify chores and other essential tasks to suit yourself. Break things down into smaller tasks. Sit down. Use accessibility tools. Anything that helps is legitimate. Stop performing abilities you don't have to satisfy a society that already disregards your needs. 🖤💙😷🥄

One of the hardest things to do in any relationship is to admit to yourself when it's time to end it for your own safety, happiness, and future growth.

Self care is the hardest when you need to do it the most. 🖤💙😷🥄

* Both occurred this week, in the month in which I will mark my 6th year of #LongCOVID. Please stop #COVID #Reinfections at source: wear a mask ( #N95), open a window ( #Ventilation), run a #HEPA ( #Filtration), monitor #IAQ with a #CO2 tracker, & get vaccinated.

#LongCOVID is when, suddenly - ▶️ You can't remember if Sybil is spelled Syble, Sybel, or Sybal: you've lived in a street of this name for 7 years, & you're a writer, spelling is one of your strengths. ▶️ Your morning coffee tastes of chicken: you love coffee, have been vegetarian for decades.

Abusive people will attempt to miscast your boundaries as grudges. Boundaries are the sensible shields you establish after learning damaging patterns. Boundaries represent growth and introspection. Grudges are static. Build, update, and maintain your boundaries regularly.

Diplomacy does not include allowing the other side to take open shots at you. It's being open to hearing what they have to say to a fair extent, not becoming their target or doormat. Do not confuse diplomacy with acquiescence.

Your bodily autonomy doesn't end when you enter sickbay. Be wary of any medical professionals who act or speak otherwise. 🖤💙😷🥄

Eighty thousand signatures 💛🩷🩵🤍🎉 Eighty thousand trans allies. Eighty thousand voices saying clearly: Not In Our Name: Women in support of the trans+ community ✍️ Sign and share: notinourname.org.uk

Your boundaries will scare some people away. Do not mourn those people leaving when that happens; this is a feature that protects you in advance.

Trans women are women regardless of how loudly terrible people in your time scream otherwise. That's just the fact of it. Trans women are women, trans men are men. If you don't like me saying this, there's the door. Don't darken my sickbay with your hate. 🖤💙😷🥄🏳️‍⚧️

top of the Morn to you. ☕️

Doctors should believe your stated suffering and symptoms without needing you to perform those things in front of them. Yes it helps if we can measure them in action, but I believe you either way. 🖤💙😷🥄

Don't be afraid to burn bridges that lead to terrible places full of nothing but pain and torment. There are better bridges out there.

Fiction is for feeling good in your heart and soul, but science is for actually treating your medical needs and protecting you from dangerous pathogens. 🖤💙😷😷😷😷😷🥄

You are allowed to firmly say, "No," to many more things than you think.

Empathy and kindness are not finite resources.

Beware of the sunk cost fallacy in any medical treatment; it's okay to discontinue/alter things that aren't working even if you've put a lot of resources in. Some treatments take a long time to show success, but avoid chasing things that clearly don't work down the drain. 🖤💙😷🥄

Chronic pain is any pain that doesn't go away after an initial injury has been fully treated. That's it. It's not about whether someone else has more or different pain than you. Don't let anyone gatekeep you away from that term. It's okay to say you have chronic pain! 🖤💙😷🥄

I am proud of you every day that you work to defend your entirely reasonable boundaries.

What if the reason you're afraid to let your works be seen is because deep down part of you knows that when everybody is joyfully astonished by your talents, you'll have to acknowledge them yourself?

If your era would just implement a universal basic income, so many of you would finally get some real rest and then be able to do bigger, bolder, better things afterwards. 🖤💙😷🥄

Nobody should have to continually argue for their basic right to exist. If you are part of a group forced to do that then please know I am on your side and wishing a world with less bigotry for your future.

It's okay for you to be frustrated and/or angry about your disabilities/chronic illnesses. That doesn't give anyone else permission to be frustrated/angry at you about any of it. 🖤💙😷🥄

Harm does not require intent.

"If we cannot learn to actually enjoy those small differences, to take a positive delight in those small differences between our own kind, here on this planet, then we do not deserve to go out into space and meet the diversity that is almost certainly out there." ~ Gene Roddenberry

If you ever need to feel like a magical unicorn, I keep glittery unicorn headbands in my desk drawer. Technically they're for cheering up kids who are spooked by sickbay, but I don't put an age limit on comfort or joy. You can come sparkle in sickbay anytime you need to. 🖤💙😷🥄🦄

I'm embracing this more and more everyday.

Once again I have I scooped up some extra gold stars out of the cosmos for those of you who took your meds and hydrated today! And if you haven't yet, do it now so you can have extra gold stars too! 🖤💙😷🥄 ⭐️🌟✨⭐️🌟✨⭐️🌟✨⭐️🌟✨⭐️🌟✨⭐️🌟✨⭐️🌟✨⭐️🌟✨⭐️ ⭐️🌟✨⭐️🌟✨⭐️🌟✨⭐️🌟✨⭐️🌟✨⭐️🌟✨⭐️🌟✨⭐️🌟✨⭐️ ⭐️🌟✨⭐️🌟✨⭐️🌟✨⭐️🌟✨⭐️🌟✨⭐️🌟✨⭐️🌟✨⭐️🌟✨⭐️

Apparently many of you enjoy it when I say, "Make it so." With that in mind: set your course towards being kind to yourself today. Make it so.

Day 124 of inserting a Muppet into a Star Trek screenshot #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #TheMuppets #SesameStreet

It is nearly universally useless to be told to "calm down" because that edict in and of itself rarely does anything to address why someone is upset in the first place. You are not required to obey emotional directives issued by people who are attempting to manipulate you for their convenience.

Whenever you feel lonely in your health conditions, reach out to others because I absolutely guarantee you are not alone in that illness. Even rare diseases have enough similar symptoms with others for folks to form supportive communities. You are not alone. 🖤💙😷🥄

My sickbay is always a safe space for vulnerable people, in every possible way I can manage. 🖤💙😷🥄

Multiple things can be true at the same time without negating each other. You can be experiencing real, valid suffering and someone else can be experiencing something worse with neither of you negating the other's truth or legitimacy in any way.

I'm writing you a prescription for whatever comfort food you like and can manage to get for yourself today. 🖤💙😷🥄

Trauma is a dark beast that freely lurks about in the shadows of your mind no matter how much you imagine you have it under control, even when all four lights are on.

Your self-defined identity in any given moment is valid and you're allowed to change that on the fly. Others readily shift between self-definitions as they go home from work, dress up for events, and so on. You can too. Don't let systemic inequities pigeonhole you. Be yourself.

"I don't want to," is always a good enough answer for any social request. You don't need excuses beyond that. Anyone who doesn't respect your, "I don't want to," is not worthy of your friendship or social time. You are allowed to say, "No." 🖤💙😷🥄

Go take a nap. Get some rest. Naps are good for you. Rest is essential. Neither is a waste of time. Let go of that capitalistic notion of always having to be productive. Get somewhere soft and cozy and let yourself drift. Print this out as a prescription if you need to. 🖤💙😷🥄

You are entitled to expect more than the bare minimum of respect, safety, and inclusion from those around you, especially if you are ensuring you are giving abundant supply of those things to others.

Dear people of 2026: this still hasn't changed. People are still dying and being disabled by your ongoing pandemic. Vaccines are great but filtering masks are variant-proof. Your economies, politics, and daily lives are already suffering from this mass disabling event. 🖤💙😷🥄

I'm so proud of you on the days when you do all the things you need to do to take care of yourself. I'm also proud of you on the days when you can't. It's okay to have bad days. 🖤💙😷🥄

You are not required to use your personal time to educate random adults in basic civility. You are allowed to block without discussion first and save your time for kinder people.