It’s award season again  this Autumn and here's a piece I rewrote last March (and didn't get to post because I was sick) when it was also an award season plus it was Covid anniversary time for many of us too).

"I’m not going to win any prizes at the moment but there are things I am proud of, so I offer this blog to anyone who needs reminding of their value whilst they learn to live with a long-term condition. I first wrote this  speech-poem a year ago (March 2023) and I’ve just found my notes – it’s one of the things that happens a lot with Long Covid – the writing, forgetting and then rediscovery of a moment.

I am grateful to the conversations with the Covid Café regulars that inspired this blog:

So you’re not winning any prizes right now

You’re not feeling much forward momentum

But you can still be proud of what’s happening

What’s possible for you at the moment

Imagining this

Achieving this

Each day for yourself

Look at what you are doing

Go on, look again, look closely

Take your time with it

No rush

No need to magnify it

What’s important here

Is to recognise

And trust

Take pride in the things you enjoy

That help you set your stamp on the world

Even if it’s painting your finger nails

Putting on some lippy, or a smile (real or faked)

Having a shave…

What’s possible?

What’s making you feel proud of being you

What’s bringing you joy...

Let the pride, joy -  expand

Fill you from your toes

To your bonce

Let it fill your heart

And then send it out

To the ends of your fingers

Turn that joy into defiance

And radiate your defiance far beyond you

Into the world

The illness may feel like

everything

Some days

But however hard it can be to believe -

However long ago this feeling began -

You are still more than the illness

Still bigger, brighter and uniquely you

All it takes is a moment to remember

And to be joyful in defiance.

Image shows a still life of a ukelele in red on a blue table cloth.