#MSMakesMe

Today is a new day, and another chance to do my #MSMakesMe answer for @mssocietyuk over on Instagram (@tiddleboo); this time without trying to upload too-long videos! I thought I'd share it here, too.

My answer is in two parts, as we all have bad days and good days. First, the bad:

#MSMakesMe feel like I’m permanently wearing a heavy, wet, uncomfortable Winter coat, one that skims the ground, is in a dark colour, and has started to whiff a bit. That sort of coat.

Even when Spring comes, and the sun shines, I still find myself wearing that bloody coat, having it weigh me down, making me stagger as though the Winter wind is buffeting me. That’s my fatigue, that’s part of how it feels.

 

The good answer, though, is really good:

#MSMakesMe Serendipitous!

Serendipitous roughly means having something good occur out of an unlikely act; the act being MS. For those who don’t know, I’m a writer. I write short fiction, sometimes very short fiction, because that’s what my MS ravaged brain allows me to do now. Last year was a success, 34 pieces of work I submitted to competitions and journals were published. Hurray!

Last May I had my delayed graduation ceremony with the Open University for my Master’s in Creative Writing. At the time I sent the OU my story, the story of my studying with health issues. Well, last week, the Open University in Wales published a student story about me on their website 'The OU gave me my confidence back': Beck's experience of studying with MS | Open University in Wales , to show others who may be wondering if they could study with MS that they certainly could. That there is help available, that they won’t be the first (or last) to have trod that path.

Then, this week, Wales Online published an advert/article about me How The Open University enabled mum with MS to regain her confidence - Wales Online , based on that student story.

And, this Thursday, The Western Mail newspaper will be running that self-same article about little old me!

Now, perhaps nothing will come of this exposure, but perhaps something will. And, without that whiffy old wet, Winter coat that is MS, I wouldn’t have had that exposure.

So, this week, #MSMakesMe Serendipitous😊