Diane Shipley writes about her experiences as an ill person in a well person’s world...
Net worth
Last time, I talked about losing friends thanks to ill health. (They want to party, you want to nap...) It can be incredibly painful, but it's not all bad: who needs fair-weather friends like that, really? And more importantly, it leaves room in your life for fabulous new people!
When I say I've met some great friends via the internet (even though I may not have technically 'met' many of them), some people look at me a bit strangely, and come out with classics like "How do you know they are who they say they are?" and "Is that really safe?" to which I say: I'm not an idiot, and I'M NOT AN IDIOT.
The internet has opened up a whole new world for me. When I first got connected, I could rarely leave the house and my first thoughts were of researching treatments for M.E. But something else happened, instead: I discovered a whole new support system online, joining forums for people with the same health problems as me, making new friends and acquaintances in the process. I can't quantify the value of talking to people who understand what you're going through - without having to dress and leave the house to do so! Plus an internet conversation is a lot less mentally taxing than a 'real-life' one, which is a big plus when mental and physical energy is low.
My internet M.E friends are now real friends, who do lovely things like ask me to come to the theatre with them and send flowers when I move house. And something even more unexpected has happened too: I started meeting people online who aren't ill, and *gasp* we get along, too!
As my health's started to improve I've had more to talk about with 'normal' people, and realised that I don't have to exist in an M.E bubble: there are people willing to put up with the fact that sometimes all I want to do is email and maybe meet up occasionally. We can still be friends! Blogging in a personal capacity has brought new people into my life and even given me the opportunity to blog professionally, which has been one of the best things I've ever done, taking me out of my health situation and into a whole new world without leaving my bedroom.
So when people gripe about the proliferation of online socialising and networking, or think that people who spend hours on the net each day need to 'get a life', I smile, and I understand what they mean, but I can't agree. It wouldn't be too much of an exaggeration to say that the internet gave me my life back - plus 101 reasons to keep on living it.
Earlier this year, Diane spent six weeks without an internet connection. During that time she was unable to co-edit Shiny Media’s fabulous women’s fiction blog, Trashionista and contribute to TV Scoop, Catwalk Queen and her personal blog, What Do You Do? She may or may not have cried.