In this episode, I’m sharing my experience of being diagnosed with fibromyalgia in early 2024 and reflecting on what it means to live with an invisible chronic illness. So much of modern life is built around visibility, sharing images, documenting our lives online, and yet the most profound experiences often happen in places no one else can see. Living with chronic pain, brain fog and fatigue has made me think deeply about what visibility actually means, and about the strange tension between a culture that expects us to perform wellness and the reality of bodies that don’t always cooperate.

I talk about the long path that led to my diagnosis, beginning with an accident at the end of 2020 and years of symptoms that I initially explained away as recovery from surgeries and medication. Over time it became clear that something deeper was happening in my nervous system, and that my relationship to work, energy and daily life was changing in ways I couldn’t ignore. Learning to pace my energy has been one of the biggest shifts, as well as navigating the shame that can arise when chronic illness collides with cultural narratives about productivity, work and what a successful life is supposed to look like.

This episode is also about grief - the grief of changing identities, altered expectations and futures that look different from what we imagined. At the same time, it’s been an invitation to become curious about health in a deeper way: to learn about the nervous system, trauma, sleep, and the small everyday choices that help me care for my body with more compassion. My hope is that sharing this story might help others feel a little less alone, especially if they’re navigating illness that the world can’t easily see.

You are welcome to join the spring season of Soft Monday sessions over here: https://griefmagic.com/blessings/

Love,

Yarrow

In this episode of the Grief Magic podcast, I reflect on the relationship between grief and the changing seasons.

As spring returns, we explore what happens in nature during winter dormancy and how the quiet preparation of plants and trees mirrors many human emotional processes.

The episode introduces gentle practices for connecting with nature, including seasonal observation, small acts of ecological care, and growing flowers such as cosmos and sweet peas.

Rather than expecting nature to “heal” grief, this conversation invites us to experience the natural world as a quiet companion through cycles of loss and renewal.

You are welcome to join the spring season of Soft Monday sessions over here: https://griefmagic.com/blessings/

Love,

Yarrow

In this episode, I explore the idea of romantic friendship and the many ways humans create intimacy outside traditional relationship structures. I talk about how the nuclear family seems to lose its hold as a primary way of relating and about the ways in which not being able to form a traditional family can still feel like a loss.

Whether you are queer or not, as always I hope that this episode feels validating to your beautiful, unique way of being in the world and forming relationships that actually work for you.

You are welcome to join the spring season of Soft Monday sessions over here: https://griefmagic.com/blessings/

Love,

Yarrow