Today’s audio is me musing on how difficult it can be to value yourself when you have a long-term health condition that affects your day to day level of functioning . What I don’t say in the recording, but which I must emphasise here is that – as my niece once so eloquently put it – you have to “get off that ableist agenda” which assigns value to you in terms of productivity. It’s political, not just personal. In a world when a million ‘achievements’ are documented minute by minute on social media, and when we are encouraged to applaud ever-more extreme endeavours (celebrity climbs Everest in a bikini, twice a day, for a month and then runs four marathons, nearly dies, what a hero), it takes guts to go “yes, I am wonderful” when putting on clothes has been the pinnacle of your day.

You are wonderful, by the way.

Listen here: https://otter.ai/u/wVNU7s7Vgnkjlw4UGYnnPUlRxdA

** The programme I refer to in the audio is a podcast with Tanya Byron and Claudia Winkleman called How did we get here?