When I last popped a blog up, just about a month ago, I wrote about my book launch and about how I wanted to step out of my comfort zone a little more in terms of “being seen” and sharing my story (the why behind what I do)
Well it’s fair to say that since then I’ve more than risen to that challenge and there’s some fun and exciting stuff set in motion so I thought I’d put finger to screen and tell you about it.
The first thing, and I know I touched on this in the last blog was the "3spoonies" podcast. Hosted by 3 amazing business ladies who are also dealing with various long term conditions and health challenges they cover a range of topics on life and business (my episode will be on self care when you're self employed will be episode 6 of the series I think.....oh and I also had a book advert on their first show!)
Then i got to do a video podcast with a lovely lady called Tracey D Armstrong who is a coach and motivational speaker based in Texas. We had a chat over zoom for her" What's your M.E.S.S " show (with mess standing for Mental, emotional and social status of life). She was kind enough to chat through my journey with and we covered a wide range of subjects including loss and grief, acceptance and finding hope with me sharing my thoughts and experiences and Tracey asked some great, thought provoking questions too
you can watch the full episode here https://youtu.be/o0HoMYoP7g0?si=wvd_lyiDrONWI8N3
That was 2 steps in the direction of more visibility and there's still more to come! In my last blog I had said I was hoping to have an event for "how I became a butterfly" in the paisley central library around the time of fibromyalgia awareness day....well the hope came to be a reality as the library confirmed with me that we are all set to do it on Saturday 11th May (so the day before awareness day)
I am REALLY excited and a touch nervous to be doing a "proper author" event in our shiny newly opened library.....something that wasn't in the initial plans for the book but in a "why not" random idea it appeared from nowhere onto my to to do list!
The fact its the day before awareness day is really important for me as whenever I'm sharing my story one of the aims is to further awareness and understanding of fibromyalgia and I will be closely tying the two in any press stuff I can garner for the event
The one thing I never mentioned in the last blog and that saw another "why not" moment is the fact that I will be having my own weekly show on Johnstone Sound (a local community radio station). I had seen their Facebook posts looking for volunteer presenters on a few occasions starting from late last year and on the first few times I admittedly bottled it (that impostor syndrome can be a strong adversary sometimes!!!) Then it popped up again a couple of weeks back so, in the new spirit of being seen and taking it as a note from the universe that "we're going to keep showing you this till you do something!" I sent off an email pitching the idea for a motivational Monday show with happy songs, good chat and positive themes....and they really liked the idea. So two weeks ago I went for a chat and a look at the studio and last week I had an hour of being shown how stuff works (making LOTS of notes along the way! ) before John, one of the regular presenters, kindly took me live on air for an hour of chat and a few songs I'd picked. This coming Monday (the 22nd April 24 for reference when you're reading this) I've got another hour of run through followed by an hour of me giving the button pushing a go with John at my side.
If you fancy listening in you'll find me live from 2pm-4pm from the start of May and you can listen at www.johnstonesound.com or ask your smart speaker to play the station (there's also a wee Facebook page that will keep you up to date with the show and allow you to interact with the topics and chat and you'll find that here https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558647384322