The Seated View

There are distinct benefits to working for yourself and even more benefits to having an office in your home. The commute is ideal, the dress code very relaxed, and you can set your own hours. This is fantastic when you have a chronic illness. There are also drawbacks. Recently, I’ve been forced to reevaluate how I work and manage stress (or rather, don’t manage stress) and I may have gotten a bit of perspective. First, I wrote down the factors that contribute to my stress levels being unreasonable: Multiple projects and roles . When you have 8 part-time jobs/roles/hats, some for pay, some not, it adds to a lot of balls to juggle. No space for writing and thinking . The hats require so much energy and time that there isn’t room for things I want to do. Such as write my next book. Or having quiet time to think (also required for writing). Multitasking . Lots of competing deadlines and massive influx of email. This doesn’t actually get more done. Instead, I flit from ta...

Dear Joe, Yesterday, I walked away from you for the final time. The signs have been there for a while, but I closed my eyes to them. I didn’t want to believe that you were leaving me. But today, after over six months of coming to you and having to walk away dismissed, I finally saw it. You don’t want me anymore. Joe, you’ve been my favorite clothing store for years. The style of your clothes is fresh, timeless, I love the bright colors, and your prices are pretty fantastic, as well. Since you opened a store near me, I have bought an embarrassing amount of clothes from you. In the last year or so, there have been some changes. The wonderful wool V-neck sweaters that I bought two years ago are still going strong, but the ones I bought this past winter lasted only a few months before they pilled so horrendously that I had to throw them out. Still, when you only pay $19 for a sweater, you can’t expect the best quality. I understood that in order to keep prices lo...

I spent Friday of last week at the Art Gallery of Ontario for the Living ARTHfully Blogger and Online Influencer Event. Canadian bloggers who write about RA, ankylosing spondylitis and psoriasis arthritis came together to make connections, learn tips and information, and brainstorm about increasing online conversations about arthritis. Hosted by GCI Group for Janssen (makers of Remicade and Simponi), it was an inspiring and invigorating day. By the time I went home, I was several new friends richer and buzzing with new ideas.  Let me introduce you to the other bloggers: Brian lives in Newfoundland and blogs at Newfoundland Sea Kayaking about arthritis and kayaking among icebergs. For such a calm guy, he’s a bit crazy. You can find him on Twitter at @Newhook79 . Dustin’s from Calgary. Only a few years into his journey with ankylosing spondylitis, he’s already really an important contributor to the online community. You can find him at Journey with AS and @jour...