Have you ever felt invisible?
You can feel invisible sitting in a room filled with voices that are louder than yours. No one hears you or looks in your direction. Ouch.
When we're younger we feel invisible and left out when we're not invited to a party or the mall with friends. Maybe we're invisible when a boy doesn't see who we are and asks someone else on a date. Double ouch.
But there's another way of feeling invisible. It's when you're fighting an invisible illness, one that's naked to the eye but is quietly serving you a double dish of struggles served on a silver platter every morning, noon and night. Silent, unrelenting and chronic.
Addison's Disease • Autoimmune Hepatitis • Bursitis • Cancer • Colitis • Crohn's Disease • COPD • Cystic Fibrosis • Depression • Endometriosis • Epilepsy • Fibromyalgia • Grave's disease • HIV • IBS • Lupus • Migraine • Multiple Chemical Sensitivity • Multiple Sclerosis • Myelofibrosis • Narcolepsy • Obstructive Sleep Apnea • Optic Neuritis • Polymyositis • Pulmonary Hypertension • Rheumatoid Arthritis • Scleroderma • Sickle Cell Anemia
Two years ago I wrote about never being invisible despite living with an invisible illness. After being published in The Huffington Post it received even more attention all around social media and throughout the Multiple Sclerosis community. It's message was an important one and it also applies to everyone fighting an invisible illness.
WHOA! Network asked me to create a video for the sole purpose of reading my post. The video now sits on the sidebar of my blog. Its message expresses what An Empowered Spirit is all about: ability despite disability, and never being invisible.
My speaking voice is soft and not very forceful. There have been times when my words were not heard above the roar of the crowd. There have been other times when my voice was heard yet painfully ignored.
When I write it allows my words to spread my message for me, sprinkling themselves over others who are fighting their own struggle, or are looking to educate themselves about what living with a chronic illness feels like.
I vow to fight every day of my life, until there's a cure, to live the best life I possibly can. I do it for my son. I do it for my husband. I do it for my parents and for all of my loved ones who are in my corner every single day. I do it for the Multiple Sclerosis community and for the disability community.
And I do it for myself. Because I never, ever want to feel invisible.
Thanks to Darryle Pollack for permission to use the WHOA! Network video.
Wonderful video, Cathy. You do bring so much value to the world and the MS Community. And I love the cool glasses!!
Cathy, Your voice is powerful beyond your words. Through your writing, you are inspiring and helping so many!
The truth is that you are anything BUT invisible and that is the truth. For sure. But so many women do feel invisible for one reason or another. Your fighting back is an inspiration.
I love this video and listening to or reading your words. You are so inspiring. I spent most of my life wanting to be invisible. Rarely do I let people know I have epilepsy, it was so embarrassing when I was a teenager. I am grateful that I finally found my confidence and my voice.
What a very moving video and post, Cathy. xo
Since my illness became visible via the wheelchair, people give me much more empathy and sympathy. They accept my limits. When it was invisible, they got mad at me for my shortfalls. That says it all.
Cathy, my beautiful friend, your voice and message are mighty and powerful. You are anything but invisible. I'm so proud of you.
I heard you. Loud and clear. Great work, Cathy.
Your voice is being heard now! That is a great video. Your message and hope is loud and clear! I am inspired in knowing you. People without a context to someone with an invisible disability have to be educated and you are doing an excellent job.
Cool glasses and great message with a nicely modulated voice!
It's funny that whenever I speak loudly, people hear me less. Who was it who said, "speak softly and carry a big stick?"
I know what you mean, though, about feeling invisible sometimes. I get that feeling too....
I never knew there was such a week as Invisible Illness Awareness Week. Thank you for the enlightenment. And empowerment! xoxo
You are a beautiful woman with a powerful voice. Thank you for fighting the fight for so many.
I'm glad you have found your voice to inspire others. It may be soft, but it is powerful and is heard by many. Keep on keeping on, Cathy!
So well said, Cathy. I love every minute of it. From someone who has and does suffer from disabilities ranging from asthma to Graves to Guillain Barre, I know exactly of which you speak. Love this post. You sound fabulous and coming in loud and clear. Sharing!
You are SO not invisible. I love the post, the video, your glasses, you.
The sad fact is, the world we live in is so fast paced and me me me now that people can't be bothered with anything they don't understand or worse still, don't want to even try. It is hard for anyone to understand something they have not experienced and we are reliant on our imagination to do so. My dad is going deaf, he gets really grumpy and appears to be anti-social. I know exactly how he feels because I have experienced being temporarily deaf. It is horrendous. It made me irritable and anti-social so I understand his plight and can genuinely empathise with him. I have two friends with MS and I know life is difficult for them but I can never REALLY know what they are going through - I can only imagine it because I have never experienced MS myself. And imagining something in order to understand it better requires an active desire to do so. One person who can be bothered to take that time is worth a hundred of those to whom you are invisible. They are sadly ignorant and I feel sorry for them. I am not a religious person but I have many bible quotes in my head from my childhood - one that comes to me when ever I face ignorance is 'Father forgive them for they know not what they do'. I translate that into 'I forgive you'. Keep up the good work Cathy - spread the word!
What a lovely piece. And so true. I was just part of an inservice at work reminding everyone that you don't really know what is happening in other's lives. They had a very powerful video - which I can't seem to locate at present. But it is a message to everyone. You just don't know what another person is dealing with, keep that in mind as you go about your day.
Best wishes to YOU Cathy!
Such an inspiring piece Cathy as always. I am so glad that you are out there bringing awareness to the "invisible illness" in the world. I had no idea that there was an "INVISIBLE AWARENESS WEEK", but thanks to you I do now. I have to get something written. Thanks for all you do dear friend.
Thanks for letting us know about Invisible Illness Awareness Week - we had never heard of it - and we know quite a few folks with illnesses on the list. I'm going to pass your encouraging post along to them. Thanks! -Veronica
See, told you so, Jane Bond lives and she's in you. I have an invisible, and I'm not dealing with it as well as you are. Thanks for the inspiration!
I love your spirit! I work in health care and am always struck by the difference between patients who LIVE with and illness and those who BECOME an illness. The former group thrives, and the latter group dives into a life of being a victim. You are a thriver!
Truly inspirational.I understand fully how we can have an illness but because people dont see it, it's as if they dont, or won't recognize it.
Hi Cathy! Once again you are doing incredible work in the world by sharing your experiences and what you have learned about it along the way. And I too had never heard of Invisible Illness Awareness Week but now, thanks to you, I do. That is the simply amazing thing about the internet for letting us share our thoughts, ideas and experiences so that we, and others, never have to be invisible. Thank you again for all you do. ~Kathy
I also suffer from Migraines, Obstructive Sleep Apnea as well as depression. It is hard for people who don't suffer from an invisible illness to understand. Thank you for this post. It reminds me that I am not alone in my struggles.
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I really appreciate your heart in talking about this - the title of this post immediately caught my eye. While I don't have an invisible illness, I know the pain that comes from seeming invisible in a room - or in a friendship. And it is truly painful. But, I'm thankful to know that pain because it pushes me to go out of my own comfort zone and try to reach out to others more - and make them feel seen and heard and noticed.