*Of course, hope-tripping is not a term you've probably heard before--we definitely made it up. But when we decided to take this project on, we searched our brains for a podcast name that captured the complex experience of trying to heal from chronic illness, and this was it. Most weeks, at some point, this is us: tripping over hope. Sometimes up, sometimes down, sometimes in a puddle of tears, wondering if we were wrong to hope for better, and sometimes riding high on our wins and hopes for recovery. This is a podcast to talk about the realities of trying to recover from invisible, chronic illness in all of its layers, in all of its stages, nothing polished or prettied, from two women who are still taking it day-by-day, trying to figure out what is possible for healing, measuring success sometimes in inches, and learning along the way how to keep hope by our side.
So, who is this website for?
This site is for anyone who finds themselves, like us, sometimes tripping over hope. Those with a complex, chronic illness like ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, autoimmune disease, long-covid, or any set of invisible symptoms that have left you feeling disempowered, invisible, and voiceless. It's for anyone looking for community. Anyone looking to cast a wide net into the vast ocean of healing to see what treasures we can find together. It's for anyone who hopes, anyone who struggles to hope, anyone still trying to convince themselves there's anything like hope left. It's for those who may have grown weary of internet promises of rapid recovery, those who don't even know where to start looking for recovery, and for those who are wondering what healing even means. It's for those of us who have lost greatly--our energy, our hobbies, our peace of mind, our jobs. It's for those of us who have, at times, even felt lost to ourselves. It's for those of us who still believe, if just a little, that even in the face of our challenges, and even if sometimes it's just so overwhelming, life can get so much better.
For what it's worth, we've seen it.
IMPORTANT: There are a lot of experts out there on a lot of topics. Even though we are each experts
in certain areas, we don't claim to be experts on healing. We're in the trenches with you all.
And all we hope to do is to share what has been true for us, hoping that some part of it casts a bit
of light on what is true for you--or what could be if you want to try it on to see how it fits. And for all of our wishes for your own health and recovery, none of this content is meant in any way to replace your individual physicians' or health care providers' guidance for your medical or mental health care,
nor is it meant to provide medical advice of any kind.
ABOUT
We're Sarah and Summer, two nature-loving women (who'd always rather be hiking) who met through the experience of illness. Careers and lives derailed by vague but debilitating symptoms and diagnoses, we first began talking by phone over 2 years ago. And with 800 miles separating us, we have continued near-weekly phone calls ever since as we have supported each other through the ups and downs of ME/CFS, dysautonomia/POTS, mast cell activation syndrome, mold exposure, food sensitivities, and through the emotional toll it all takes. Even though Sarah is a physician, we both realized neither of us knew what healing really meant. Modern medicine had told us that our symptoms either weren't real or couldn't be fixed, and so we undertook the journey together, learning and sharing with one another as our sense of what was true for us--what was possible for us--evolved. These conversations have changed us, changed our understanding of who we are in the world, what illness is, and what healing is possible in the face of chronic illness. And now, we'd love to share what we've learned with you.
Joy Project
Coming soon!
When there's so much that is hard in life, let's create a community of great and tiny joys. We won't ignore the hard or paint over it, but we'll grow joys in our lives, too.
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Resources for Healing
