Living in a Body

Two times a month, I attend an ME/CFS support call on Zoom sponsored by the Bateman-Horne Center. There are regularly almost 200 people on that call. The call is so well facilitated and has been a wonderful resource to me and many others. It’s given me a very positive impression of this not-for-profit organization. If you have a few dollars to donate in recognition of ME/CFS Awareness Week, I reco...

Join the Conversation! In the post below, I give a brief update and reflect on my mantra of the current season — “Slow Down.” I recognize that Spring is typically more of a time of ramping up than slowing down, but I hope you’ll consider sharing an area in your life where you have successfully slowed down. Tell us. Have you reaped the benefits? Or… Share some area of your life where you’d like to...

Hi. This Saturday, March 7th at 2:00 pm EST , I’m hosting a Zoom gathering to celebrate my March 5th birthday when I’ll be turning 60. You’re invited. Find details and a Zoom link below. Please click the PLAY button above to hear the intended PODCAST version of this episode. Find the complete transcript below. Thanks for being here! ❤️ Hal When : March 7, 2-3:30 pm EST. (notice time change from pr...

Hi! I’m Hal. Thank you for your patience. I’ve been moving pretty slow lately. I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted. I’m glad you’re here. Please tap the PLAY button above to hear the intended PODCAST version of this episode. Find the full transcription below. Enjoy. Color Theory (Part One) I’ve recently discovered color theory and I’m hooked. Have you heard about it? Complementary, monochro...

Stippling I’ve been stippling lately. I had to pull myself away from stippling to record this podcast today. In the last two days, I’ve started three new stippling projects. In the last couple months, I’ve stippled for many, many hours. Yep, I’m a stippler. I’ve entered my stippling phase. If you don’t know what stippling is, I’ll tell you it’s using thousands and thousands of tiny black dots to c...

The weather changed today and it’s cold inside. I’ve been walking around the house with a T-shirt on tonight and I’m freezing. I haven’t gotten my fall clothes out yet. I haven’t been ready to make that transition. It’s been summer in Ohio for the last couple weeks and I’ve been loving it. All the windows have been open and… I wish it would never end. It’s been blue skies with temperatures in the...

There's a Quaker phrase that says, “the way opens.” I love that phrase. The way. The way will open. It's a beautiful idea, this idea of “the way.” Just watch what happens. What will be, will be. Que será, será… and “the way” will open. Yep, my job is just to be available, be present, to be present for the way to open. One interesting thing about this illness that I live with, ME/CFS, myalgic encep...

Hi! Thanks for being here. Please press the PLAY button above to hear the intended podcast version of this episode. Find the full transcription below. A Sketch Book and Two Fountain Pens Last night I was at the Spectrum store getting my phone activated and getting my mom's phone activated. After many years of being with Consumer Cellular, Spectrum was willing to give me a package deal on internet...

Better Day Hi. Remember me. It's your friend, Hal. This is the “Living in a Body” podcast. Here we are. It's the middle of summer. The fans have been going non-stop for weeks. The windows are open. I got practically no clothes on. Yep… you know me. I loooooove summer. And I'm just here to check in, just for a quick hello and “how-de-do.” Sending love to all you my beautiful readers. Thanks for bei...

Hi. Welcome. I’m sending a big “Thank you!” to all the subscribers of “Living in a Body” and an even bigger “THANK YOU!” to the 91 paid subscribers. Your support means so much to me. I appreciate you. Fallow Time (Press PLAY above) I guess I could stop right there. Got nothing to say and don't know how to say it. I could turn this machine off right now and lay back down and do some more resting. B...

Hi. Please see additional resources to learn about ME/CFS at the bottom of this post. This episode was produced as a podcast. Press the PLAY button above or read the full transcript below. Thank you for being here. Hal Who Cares So I missed ME/CFS Awareness Day again this year. It was May 12th. I'm just a few days late, but here we are just in time for my Substack going out on Saturday. I pulled t...

Every Monday afternoon, my friend Bruce comes over at four o'clock to meditate with me. He shows up at four and we meditate for 20 minutes, we say a few kind words and then we do a really friendly fist bump. Then he heads out the door. Well, yesterday, while we were meditating, I heard some scratching coming from the other room. I heard it… and then I forgot about it. And this morning, when I went...

We want more harmonicas! More music in the streets! We want more harmonicas! More music in the streets! You know, eventually we all got to face it. We got to face the fact that we don't get all the things done that we wanted to get done. Everybody's body eventually… fails. (lol) Yeah, that's a good note to start this off on. Everybody's body eventually fails and all the getting things done comes t...

Please join me in supporting the joint efforts of Open Medicine Foundation and The Bateman Horne Center to create the Medical Education Resource Center (MERC) —a program dedicated to training healthcare professionals worldwide in diagnosing and treating ME/CFS and related conditions. An Illness Without a Doctor In the spring of 1991, I was 26 years old. On that Friday, I ran six miles, took a show...

Hi. Welcome to “Living in a Body.” If you read or listen to this episode, please do me a favor and come over to Substack and hit the like button. It helps the algorithm and it helps to let me know that you’re out there. It makes a difference. Thanks so much! Enjoy! Hal Lawnmowers in the Sky I want to talk about the beauty of nature. I want to talk about the sacred beauty of nature. It might sound...

Quality of Life I've been thinking about quality of life lately. I read something about it on the internet once. It was a statistic about the quality of life of people living with a variety of chronic illnesses. I remember it said that people living with severe ME/CFS had the lowest quality of life of all the major illnesses. That's the one I live with, myalgic encephalo-f*****g-myelitis. Yep..the...

Hi. I’m Hal. Welcome to “Living in a Body.” Click PLAY above to hear the intended PODCAST version of this episode with original music. (16 min. listen) Find the full transcription below. Enjoy! Hal Your Birthday It's my birthday next Wednesday, March the 5th. I'm turning 59 years old. Yeah… I know. I was always in my 30s… or in my 20s. I was always the younger guy, but now I'm the older guy — 59 y...

A Day in the Life I haven't left the upstairs of my house in a while. It's been at least a week. Thank God I have a caregiver that brings my food up from downstairs. I will report that my symptoms are as severe as ever, the most severe they've ever been. But my spirit is well. My emotional health is well. My mental health is well. It's not easy, but I keep adjusting. I keep taking it as it comes a...

In the Eye of the Storm I've been up since about 2:30 this morning. At night, I take three milligrams of melatonin and that usually puts me to sleep pretty well. But every night, I wake up at about two o'clock in the morning or 2:30 or three, and I usually take a half dose of ZzzQuil in a liquid form and I found it works real well. It puts me out for the rest of the night ‘till I wake up at about...

Hey! I’m Hal. Welcome to all the new subscribers! Please press PLAY above for the full 12-minute experience of this episode. Enjoy! Be sure to introduce yourself in the comments. Low Key Gliding I wanna start by welcoming all my new subscribers from TikTok. During the big scare of TikTok getting shut down, I posted a video that invited all my TikTok followers to come over to Substack and join me h...

Three Sisters One of the greatest challenges of living with ME/CFS is the unpredictability. I never know what body I'm gonna wake up into every morning. I think about all the healthy people who every day, they pretty much expect what body they're going to wake up into. Sometimes they get sick, but for the most part, it's the same body, and it ages over time, but it's usually the same body. That's...

Hey! Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Happy Boxing Day. Happy New Year and Happy Hallie’s birthday. Yay! Though this past year was one of the most difficult years of my life, today I bring to you the “Best of 2024.” Looking back, maybe it wasn’t such a bad year after all. I grew my first ever wildflower garden this year and I spent the summer taking photographs of it. I learned the...

In Search of a Place to Lie Down The holidays are approaching and I'm feeling so excited about my presents. I've never really been a great present guy. I've always been more of a last minute present guy, trying to pull something together at the last minute, wrapping with newsprint or paper bags from the grocery store. I've never been a great presents guy, but this year, I really outdid myself. I'm...

Hi. Welcome to “Living in a Body.” Please share this post with a friend. Click PLAY above for the full Podcast experience of this publication with music. (13 minute listen) And be sure to stick around till the end for a spontaneous, cameo appearance by my friend Annette Dowling . How Can I Help On Tiktok, I posted a post about the fact that I'm living with severe ME/CFS and there was a thread of c...

Hi, I'm Hal. This is the Living in a Body podcast. Welcome. A special welcome to all my new subscribers this week from TikTok and Instagram. Glad to have you here. It's called Living in a Body. This is episode 97. We've been going at it for a while now, but you're here just in time. Press PLAY above to listen. (25 Min.) Be the Hole in the Donut My sponsor keeps telling me to “ be the hole in the d...