Those of us with invisible illnesses spend quite a bit of time thinking about images; about the visual world around us. As you know by now, we more and more turn to images as symbols of the unseen battles our bodies fight each day. Our illnesses are like the wind - known only by the effects they have, effects which can move heaven and earth and shape mountains in our lives. You can't see the wind but know it is what blows leaves from the trees. Likewise, you often can't see something under a microscope for our diagnoses, but the pain, exhaustion, or damaged joints are just as real as the naked trees.
We used many pictures to help convey our messages at the VU+UII panel (thank you again to everyone who contributed). Our display was one way to use images to send a message. Blogger Mama, a fellow Sjoggie who writes about her experiences as a patient with invisible illnesses and stay at home mom to a dynamo of a toddler, has taken on her own project using photos in another way to spread awareness. Visit her latest post, Pop Quiz Time. There, you can look at a few pictures and leave your guess as to who has an illness and what that illness might be. It promises to be a very interesting reveal when she shares the results in a week!
Want to "see" more? Check out these blogs and friends of mine on Twitter, who use photography and other visual arts in amazing ways!
- http://twitter.com/fragileannie or It's Time to Get Over How Fragile You Are
- http://twitter.com/leeannthill or The Butter Compartment
- http://twitter.com/artappleaday or The Feeding Edge
- http://twitter.com/Abeeliever or Una Vita Bella (she helped start the whole photo display idea)
- Or, consider following those on my Twitter list or subscribe to The UII Connections Daily which gives a great compilation of activity on the wide range of II's represented in my Twitter list (you do not have to be on Twitter to subscribe to this "newspaper" feed).
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