Tag: MS

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Writers Are Never Just Writers

carolyncordon


Yes I’m a writer, but I’m a wife, daughter, mother, dog lover, community person, and many other things too. I am also a person living with Multiple Sclerosis.

As that last one, I’ve just begun fundraising for the MS Society SA & NT, and held an event at the most recent Gawler Poets at the Pub event on the last Sunday of April. A reasonable amount of money was raised, and I say thank you to everyone there who helped with giving my fundraising a good boost!

I’ve set myself the target of raising $1000 by the end of May, and currently have more than $220, so I’m on the way, but I have to keep moving with it, or my efforts will peter out, and not be as exciting (and useful) as I’m hoping for.

I’ve never really done a big fundraising thing before, and I’m grateful for the help from my writing colleagues, the MS society, and the two venues I attend regularly, the Prince Albert Hotel in Gawler, and Gallery 14 in Hamley Bridge, who have assisted me with this.

I will have my official collection tin, and brochures and stickers, and I will be chatting with people about how MS is for me, and how it can be for other people, some of whom have far worse symptoms than I currently am having.

My MS life is not that much of a trouble at the moment, my medication is easy to take (one tablet a day) and it seems to be working well for me. I live a relatively stress-free life, and try to eat a nutritionally sound diet (most of the time, oops with that lovely waffle the other day at the Prince Albert Hotel! It was worth it!)

So yes, I am now a fundraiser, and will be for all of May, if you see me, ask me about MS, and if you can, put some money in my tin. Raising awareness is important as well as raising money. Did you know that of the people in Australia with MS, 3 out of 4 of them are women? And even though men are less likely to have MS than women are, men tend to be more badly affected than women …

Why is this so? Who knows, not me, but I’d love to chat with people about some of my ideas on the subject, and others, relating to MS!

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‘Funny’ in Good Ways

carolyncordon

People have told me I’m funny, in good ways, and that makes me happy! Funny in bad ways, I’m not exactly sure all of what that entails but funny in Good Ways is bound to be much better, isn’t it? I’m funny in person, when chatting with someone, or when talking to an audience of many more than one.

And I’m funny in my writing, some of it anyway. And when I’m writing about serious things, like chronic illness, I try to bring some light-hearted moments into it too. – You should hear me on the subject of incontinence, I’m hilarious! Of course there are some subjects where there is no way to be funny, and I pay due respect to the importance of not playing down the seriousness of subjects such as rape and abuse. There are no laughs with this subject, and if you think these issues are funny, you are a sick person, and should seek help, before you hurt someone.

So, back to happier subjects. I have three books that I am confident are funny. They are written by me, and with the imaginary dog who lives inside my head. This dog is Buster, and he and I have written three books, as I mentioned. The first book was ‘Dig It! Gardening Tips for Dogs’. The next book was Doggone It, Mindfulness from a Dog’s Point of View. The third book is Dog Buddha’s Thoughts, exploring what Buddhism may be like for a dog. All of these subjects are ones of interest to me, from an amateur kind of viewpoint, and seeing them from a different species, the dog adds further interest (I love dogs).

I also have a book about Multiple Sclerosis, looking at the serious sides of this chronic illness, which is what I was diagnosed with in 2010. This is not something for laughing at, you’d think, but the memoir I wrote and had published, ‘Mick Jane and Me – Living Well with MS’ has some funny pieces in it along with the important serious stuff. If you can’t laugh at life sometimes, is it worth getting out of bed?

Some of my books
My lounge room, with Missy lounging around

Being funny is something that appeals to me, a lot, and one fine day, I hope to be a stand up comedian, bring laughter to people, talking about my life, and the way I always look at the positive side of things, even those with a negative aspect. Incontinence, for instance, not a funny subject, that’s true, but if so, why on earth to people say, ‘It was so funny, I pissed myself laughing!?’ I’m well aware that ‘pissing yourself’ ie, wetting your pants, is not a funny thing, yes, lived experience there, damned MS! But seeing the funny side of this very serious issue helps a person live through the embarrassment of it, and also helps other people to feel better about themselves if this is an issue they deal with too.

Showing the funny side to life helps yourself, and it helps others too, and who wouldn’t want to do that?

poetry

Theme for Today is Change

carolyncordon

My first thought, when I read this theme earlier today, was a memory of the cover of the David Bowie album, Changes One Bowie, you know it, this one:

Changes_one-cover.gif (300×300)

Then I thought about other bands I was listening to way back when I was young, then I thought about other changes from back then, to now, and that brought out a little poem, a ‘true to my life’ kind of poem that covers a range of things and changes.

I hope readers might get a smile out of this poem, remembering similar (or different) things from their own lives.

It may be relevant to know that my chronic illness is MS (Multiple Sclerosis). I talk about that sometimes on another of my blogs, the one named after the memoir I wrote soon after being diagnosed with this illness, nine years ago.

So here is today’s poem, let me know what you think about it, all thoughts welcome!

 

Fine Changes

I was a Bay City Rollers fan when I was twelve

then I liked The Sweet, and other, hipper bands

than the Bay City Rollers, were ever going to be

 

I used to ride horses, & was stablehand for Dad

now I drive a car, and help care for our dog

same job, more horsepower and stinkier shit

 

I’ve been a victim, then a survivor, and now,

well now, I am thriving, as much as one can

when struck by an incurable chronic illness …

 

That incurable illness, well, there’s no cure yet

but those clever folk are out there looking, so

one day, incurable may well change to curable

 

And that would be another fine change indeed!