'Come Away', original oil on canvas, by JMCrouse

'Come away, o human child / To the waters and the wild / With a faery, hand in hand / For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand - W. B. Yeats

What difference has Steemit made in my life with respect to communication? For me, I think on this question, and I think that it’s meant freedom.

I’m new here, and not necessarily representative of your typical account in regard to these questions, so my story may not be what you’re looking for. However, your question struck an emotional nerve for me, so I thought that you may appreciate hearing it.

To understand what I've gained, you need to know what I've lost, and for that I have to go back a few years. Five years, actually. I was 38 years old and starting life over, but I loved my new life. I’d been married two years to my best friend, to whom I’d been able to give a beautiful healthy son, despite that he’d been told he’d likely never have children. We’d bought a house in the mountains, and spent weekends hiking and camping. At home with my one year old baby, I was also finally able to begin to pursue a real career as an author/illustrator, instead of just being a part-time hobbyist, doing the occasional custom or freelance work. I was working on some short, serial graphic stories, and had just finished a massive novel that had been started when I was young. It needed a lot of work still, being rough and requiring to be broken up because of its size, and I still wanted to do illustrations for the book(s).

I woke up one day, and I felt sick. My body ached like I had a high fever, and I was so tired and lightheaded that I kept having to sit or lie down. Over the counter pain relievers did nothing. I thought I’d picked up a flu of some kind, even though there was no fever. I rested as much as I could. Three weeks later, it still wasn’t better; sometimes it was worse. Trying to draw made my whole arm and shoulder cramp up in minutes. I would get exhausted very quickly doing anything, and then get so dizzy and confused that I couldn’t follow what someone was saying, or find my way home… or remember my own writing. I told my husband that I needed to go to the doctor, that something wasn’t right. I was getting very scared.

Months, and lots of tests and doctors, later, they told me that I had Fibromyalgia (I had no idea what that was), and that it would never go away. They didn’t know what caused it, and there was no cure.

I had bad reactions to any medications they tried to prescribe me to control the symptoms.

No amount of rage, or denial, or mind-over-matter will overcome this thing. Believe me, I tried. Fighting it only makes it worse.

My life fell apart. I fell apart. I lost my home, and my marriage went to pieces. I lost my independence and capability, and was forced to get help and move in with family. Unable to write or do artwork effectively anymore, I felt I’d lost the very skills that made me who I was, that I’d lost the core of my identity. My world collapsed in on me.

Now, five years later, I’ve learned a lot, and am putting my life back together and trying to get back on my feet. My life is very changed, but I have some tools at my disposal that I didn't have before. I’ve learned to pace myself, as well, and have begun to get back to practicing my skills, little by little, even if it takes a lot longer than it used to. My husband and I are only a few months away from being able to move back into our home. I’ve lost a lot in the way of friends and family - as often happens when someone has a chronic condition - and I don’t get out much, although I’m working on that too. Building confidence back is one of the biggest challenges.

I won’t ever have things the way they were again, but I’m learning to work with what I’ve got, and I haven’t lost everything, by any means, even if I once thought so. At the end of the day, I won’t lie down and be defeated. I want to be someone who overcomes.

For some time, I’d been looking for a forum to start putting my skills as artist and writer forward again, a way to put myself out there in a manner that I could manage at my own pace. When my husband discovered Steemit, I was hooked by the idea. Here was a platform that wanted, even rewarded, creative work, and a community that was positive and supportive. I hadn’t seen anything like it before.

What I found meant even more than I could imagine.

While I have mentioned my circumstances in a couple of introductory posts, I don’t say much about it, otherwise. This is because I don’t have to be a ‘sick’ person on Steemit, even if it is what brought me here. So, you can imagine that even making such a post as this is a stretch for me.

I’m just starting out on Steemit, so I’ve only just begun to scratch the surface, but already this platform has begun to change my life. I’ve found a place that gives me a voice. A place that encourages me to push myself to overcome my fears, and has already challenged me to do some things that I wouldn't have thought I could accomplish. I’ve met some great people that I’m happy to get to know. For the first time since I was hit with this condition, I’ve found myself excited by what I might be able to accomplish. I have more ideas every day, and I’ve begun on projects that I wouldn’t even have considered before now.

The fact is, until starting onto Steemit, I didn’t realize just how scared and isolated I had become. Not only has Steemit helped me to see that, it’s helping me to overcome it, and not only online. The effects spill over into my life outside of the computer.

So, you ask what difference Steemit has made for me? It’s giving me back the world.

Sometimes, communication is everything.

Thank you to @dobartim. To read more on this writing competition, visit here