tearstruck Member Profile

tearstruck

2 14,476 M Progress Road

🐈‍⬛️🐞🪫💜

PathStep 12 Compassion hearts2,189 Forum posts580 Forum upvotes960 Current upvotes960 Age GroupAdult Last activeSeptember, 2026 Member sinceDecember 3, 2023

Bio

Sometimes I'm offline for a bit for health reasons.

Currently 98% bedbound with severe ME/CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), which is a common, disabling, neuroimmune condition. I also have POTS and migraines.

I'm nineteen! 🫶 she/her, Australia 🇦🇺

–Quotes I like at the moment–

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.

— Emily Dickinson (1861) "Hope" is the thing with feathers

dum anima est, spes esse

— Cicero (49 BC)

"do not let your illness define you"

is like telling a drowning person

to not be defined

by the sea

— Katie Leeming (2026) 'Sea Glass', I Once Was, Line Langager

If you're lost, we're all a little lost and it's alright

— Nightbirde (2021) It's OK

The world is glass- it's pretty and sharp- so be careful what you break.

— Lucas Jones (2026) I Still Believe in Miracles

Per aspera ad astra.

be clear, please:

there is no letting, or not letting, with an illness unfazed by agency, and immune to willpower

an illness that disregards

choices, and wishes

to drown you anyway

there's only

surrender

I just

surrender to the force of it

hope that luck or circumstances outside of my control

allow so that one day, I wash up somewhere on some shingle beach

reformed but retaining something of what I was before

an essence - the core colours

of I - unchanged

still glowing

like sea glass

— Katie Leeming (2026) 'Sea Glass', I Once Was, Line Langager

There’s only one way out

and that’s through

— Cassie Henderson (2025) what happens next

If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

— Carl Sagan (1980)

The cold never lasts, my darling. It just teaches the heart how to burn.

— Raye (2026) Click Clack Symphony

And goodness dies in silence

So I think you should speak.

— Lucas Jones (2026) I Still Believe in Miracles

I just don't want to deal with this right now. I'm taking a holiday from dealing. Happily vacationing in the land of 'not coping'.

— Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997)

Self-help

How to stop time: kiss.

How to travel in time: read.

How to escape time: music.

How to feel time: write.

How to release time: breathe.

— Matt Haig (2016) Reasons to Stay Alive

You all have a little bit of ‘I want to save the world’ in you. That’s why you’re here. I want you to know that it’s okay if you only save one person, and it’s okay if that person is you.

— Unknown

an antidote to perfectionism: self compassion

I have only made this letter longer because I have not had the time to make it shorter.

— Blaise Pascal (1657)

That's all.

— The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Recent forum posts

💙 ME/CFS Awareness Day 💙

Disability Support / by tearstruck

May 12th

...See more 💙 May 12th is International ME/CFS Awareness Day. 💙 Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS) is a very common and highly disabling neuro-immune condition. It has been recognised as neurological by the world health organisation since 1969. It frequently begins after an immune trigger such as an infection. The defining characteristic of the condition is Post-Exertional Malaise, PEM, which is a severe worsening of symptoms, with potential for overall illness deterioration, in response to any exertion. The activity that triggers PEM varies based on severity: for someone with mild M.E., this can be exercise, work or schooling, whereas some people with extremely severe M.E. may not have capacity to tolerate light, sound, movement, speech, swallowing or digestion. A large proportion of people with the condition are housebound or bedbound. Many initially begin as mild and deteriorate due to illness progression, improper management, or pressure to fulfil responsibilities and continue pre-illness activity levels. It is frequently reported to affect 17–24 million people worldwide, with higher recent estimates due to approximately one third of people with long covid developing ME/CFS. Unfortunately due to a long history of psychologisation it is severely underfunded compared to disease burden, poorly understood by many medical professionals, and there are currently no approved effective treatments. Approx. 5–10% make a full recovery to pre illness activity levels. Current research indicates an immune basis, with impaired immune cells, significant issues with cellular energy production in muscles and brain, and neuroinflammation. A large scale 2025 study called DecodeME indicated a likely genetic component to predisposition. Common comorbidities include POTS and other forms of dysautonomia, migraines, MCAS, hypermobility conditions, chronic pain conditions, gastrointestinal issues and more. Also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, an outdated name which fails to convey the severity of the condition, it is not the same as the symptom of chronic fatigue which is common in many conditions. Awareness Day is May 12th, for Florence Nightingale's birthday, who was mostly bedbound at age 36 after the Crimean War with a condition now thought to have been ME/CFS. 💙 The awareness colour for ME/CFS is blue 💙 Image Source: https://crunchme.org/visuals General information: https://emerge.org.au/what-is-me-cfs/ https://batemanhornecenter.org/ Pacing: https://mecfs.org.au/resources/pacing [https://mecfs.org.au/resources/pacing] An example of someone's experience with Severe M.E.: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SYLMqnEWRBg Research foundations: https://www.omf.ngo/ https://www.meresearch.org.uk/

Holiday lyrics game

Icebreakers and Games / by tearstruck

December 21st, 2023

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