I’m writing ‘chronic illness’ on my CV — we’re that awesome!

I found myself talking about how robust and awesome my skill set is because of having lived with chronic illness for so long.

My new single is out! It’s called Salem and is a song for those of us who’ve been disbelieved, disrespected and mistreated for being sick. Listen and read more here.

Photo by Mark Hayward on Unsplash

I was daydreaming about getting so well so I could go back to work the other day. While I will most likely stay independent and do freelance work if I get well enough, I liked toying with the idea of how I would present myself to a new employer.

The job-experts tell you to not have any holes in your CV — i.e. long periods where you haven’t worked. But in my daydream, I found myself talking about how robust and awesome my skill set is because of having lived with chronic illness for so long.

Here are some of the skills that can make us awesome:

We have learnt acceptance and tolerance

I don’t think many people without chronic illness can truly imagine the kind of life we live. They may have had the flu or something else passing, but living with pain and low-energy levels on a daily basis is far from imaginable. We’ve been forced to build at least some acceptance and tolerance for the situation we’re in. We can handle more pain and discomfort than others, we can live with few means and few resources. This acceptance is highly valuable in the world, where things don’t always go as planned and where situations and circumstances aren’t always perfect.

We can handle the dark stuff

Many of us have faced our own mortality to a much larger degree than able-bodied people have had to. We’ve seen what happens when society mistreats us or neglects us and we know how stigma affects our mental and physical health. We see the dire consequences of certain political and economic actions (like welfare cuts) more clearly than able-bodied people as we ourselves have faced these consequences. Our analysis of the world and situations within it can be more complex and deep.

We have strengthened our empathy and listening muscles

We know how it feels not to be faced with empathy and compassion — and we therefore know how important it is to people’s mental health and well-being. Empathy is not just ‘being nice’, it means having the ability to vicariously feel the experience and feelings of others. While we may not vicariously be able to feel every human being’s experience, we know how to listen, and because we ourselves have often not been heard and our word trusted, we have a deep respect for the lived experience of others and we know how to trust their word.

When I was working in the non-profit world, in a global child rights organisation, this skill was vital in order to analyse the situation we were trying to resolve. While I do believe I have always been a good listener, chronic illness has immensely improved this skill.

We are highly efficient, responsible, organised and our time/energy management is impeccable

We’ve had to be our own doctors, organise our own care and medication, create routines and systems that allow us to save energy and pace even more diligently than elite cyclists do. We can do a lot in a tiny amount of time and we have learnt to break down tasks into manageable chunks.

Imagine us out in the world. Imagine us as leaders and co-workers. I honestly think we make the world a better place.

Tell me…

What else makes us awesome?

Which one skill have you had to improve because of chronic illness?

What could abled people learn from us?

I’d love to know your thoughts!

Thank you so much for reading this post. If you know someone who could benefit from this, then please share this page with them. You are also more than welcome to share it in your Facebook or other patient support groups.

Did you miss?

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My debut single is out! It’s called Salem and is for all of us who weren’t believed

Salem is a song for all those out there who have been disbelieved, disrespected and mistreated for being sick. It’s been called “Heartachingly beautiful, raw, and profound.” And another listener wrote: “Your song Salem cracked something open in me — something that’s been waiting, aching, unheard…. This is more than a song. It's a testimony. It's protest. It’s sacred remembrance.”