One of the greatest gifts I've been given this year came from @leanne.swann and no it wasn't this amazing and yet totally unrelated plant head! When I was at one of my lowest points health wise this year, with both my rheumatoid and fibromyalgia flaring and my eyesight being compromised. When I was spending 6 to 8 hours of the waking day lying in bed barely able to chew food with crippling migraines and double vision, Leanne reached out and offered me her time. There is no greater gift than time, but Leanne offered me not just her time but her knowledge and skill as an acupuncturist. I went along with the attitude of having nothing to lose, it wasn't going to make things worse and at least it would get me out of the house....but after seven weeks and seven treatments I am blown away by the difference the sessions have made. My energy levels are back, I feel replenished, my migraines are gone (though I part credit my new glasses for that), my general pains are reduced, my limitations no longer so limiting. I've been able to work more hours, stay awake for the whole day, sleep well and beneficially at night. I have changed nothing else in my life, no dietary changes, no medication changed. Just one acupuncture session each week. Leanne has treated me with kindness, shared and explained knowledge but most importantly with belief. For someone with an 'invisible illness', this matters, we are used to being dismissed and disbelieved. Thank you @acupuncture.cornwall for the gift of your time and in turn my health. Thanks to you I've been able to take part in more winter activities than I would have thought possible 8 weeks ago. #accupuncturist #accupuncture #accupuncturecornwall #newquay #alternativetreatment #fibromyalgia #rheumatoidarthritis #osteo #kindness #accpuncturenewquay #cornwall #alternativetherapy #invisibleillness #accupuncturetreatment

Did you even celebrate solstice in Cornwall if you weren't sharing a bike with another mermaid and a giant seagull??? Thank you @rideon_ebikes_uk Tonight, we forgot the world and paused to enjoy some frivolities and nonsense. As we welcome longer days tomorrow I hope that there will be more light in so many ways, light in the darkness, light in the heaviness, lightness in our hearts, lightening of the burdens we carry. More than anything I wish that for all the children all over the world who are going to sleep in fear, that there will be light for them soon, because no childhood should feel dark or heavy or scary. Thank you @mischiefthemermaid for always making me smile, for being one of the lights I have in my life. #solstice #wintersolstice #montol #montolpenzance #rideon

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When the December sunshine means there's no need for a filter....what a beautiful day with friends, fairies and mermaids dancing in the glitter of winter sunrays.... Photo by @mermaid_sofia_ #cornwall #fistralbeach #mermaid #cornishmermaid #cornishmerpod #wintersunshine #greenisthenewblack #redhair #beachlife #merlife

Gimme the chance to dress up as She Hulk and I'm gonna take it. Superheroes swim this morning raising funds for @cr_uk at Towan Beach Newquay with Super Siren @kellywood80 Well after 3pm and I'm still rocking my green face....it's been to rugby and to the supermarket. I'm quite enjoying having green skin......💚💚 #greenisthenewblack #green #shehulk #greenlover

But it doesn't change anything, what difference will I make? A story I have seen several times on social media since October 7th, and was reminded of today at Newquays Solidary with Palestine gathering, is the story of the man who stood alone with his single candle outside the white house each night during the Vietnam War. Someone said to him, what do you think this will change, what difference will this make? And his reply was, I know I won't change them. I stand here so that I don't let them change me. So that I know I retain my humanity, I won't allow them to change me into someone who accepts this situation. I will continue to stand for what I believe in because I refuse to become blind to, accepting of or indifferent to the suffering of others. I will continue to turn up. I found this photo going through some old boxes that had been in storage, I believe this was around 1987 or 1988 and I would have been 8 years of age. My first protest. 35 years later here I am.....still turning up. Still standing for what I believe. Refusing to become indifferent. #palestinesolidarity #protestworks #standup

My head and heart are overwhelmed right now. The apathy, the violence, the political chaos, my eyesight, my existing conditions and new awaiting diagnosis ones, the education system, teenage hormones, distance and indifference. I've felt guilt at doing things for me, guilt at carrying on 'as normal' while around us the world seems to be on fire. But today I spent some time in the beauty of nature, with some special people, lots of laughter, cold water and friendship. It helped. More than I expected. The highlight of the day was the quicksand because there's nothing like your friends life flashing before your very eyes to make you laugh til you piss your pants. Thank you mercoven @mischiefthemermaid for the photo and @tashafairey for nearly disappearing in the most dramatic of ways! #mermaid #tinks #mermoments #magictail #mermagic #cornishmermaid #cornishmerpod #themercoven

come join us in Newquay today. Peace is all we’re asking for, to stop the atrocities in Gaza. Show your humanity please, it’s the least we can do #peace #ceasefire #ceasefirenow🇵🇸

Lying awake last night around 3am, my heart hurting, my hips aching, my vision worryingly blurred I came across this photo....a 3 year old Eddie wrapped in a keffiyeh....at the time we were on holiday in Egypt and this was to protect him from the sands as we quad biked into the desert. The keffyeh is recognised as a symbol of support for the people of Palestine...the woven pattern represents the fishing nets and the leaves of the olive tree, from a time when the people of Palestine could farm and fish for their living. If only the keffiyeh could also protect the children of Palestine right now. Like many mothers across the whole world right now my heart is hurting. Children are being murdered in huge numbers and our 'elected representatives' are standing idly by refusing to support a ceasefire. I look at the face in this photo and I can't even begin to imagine the pain of the mothers in Palestine right now. You don't have to be political or religious to know this is wrong. This is not self defence. This is not a war. This is a genocide in plain sight. I'm at a loss for what to do, I've signed petition's, I've written to my MP, I've donated, I've shared links and stories and I'll be heading to the gathering in Falmouth once again this Sunday. Yet it seems so many people are turning away, finding justification, ignoring the situation. This is not a Muslim issue, it's not an Arab problem, this is a global issue and we have to stand up and give a shit.

Weathering Storms... there is always a challenge in daily life be it the wild weather knocking you for six, chronic conditions that offer pain and discomfort, or mental health issues triggered by stress or trauma. If you can brave each little battle and be able to conquer them for the little wins like getting out the house, having a walk, letting yourself smile with out guilt. There will be a time these little wins will grow and you we find your balance again. Slow and steady let's you really take things in, the beautiful patterns of the wind on the turquoise pools that were dug out by the deep digging waves. The little faces on your four legged friends, the warmth of the autumn sunshine. One of my favourites warm hugs with a good friend. It's time to look at how we can help ourselves by managing our stress levels. Be honest with ourselves with what we take on each day. Thank you @katieswimsandmakes , Mabel and Thor for a lovely adventure before the storm came to play. #stressmanagement #stress #internationalstressawarenessweek #stressawarenessday #bettermentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthmatters #betterbythesea #cornishcoast #cornwallcoast #perranporth #cornishseaexplorers #cornishbeach #weatherthestorm #mischiefthemermaid #getoutside #visitcornwall #beachwalks #cornwall #kernow

Ten years of Mabel 🐶💚 Everyone says their dog is special. But this dog is truly one in a million. She arrived with us as a tiny tiny ball, purchased in the dark from the local travellers site, highly likely too young to have really been removed from her mother. From the very beginning she has stuck to me like glue, I can't walk across the kitchen without falling over her. She sleeps by my side. She's never needed a lead because she won't go more than a few metres from me when out on a walk. She's brave. She's loyal. She's gentle. And she's tolerant. Eddie was just three when we brought her home and he was obsessed with carrying her about, dressing her up and once bathing her by flushing the toilet on her. As she has aged she's got hairier, and hungrier, her coat is thinning, she's got warts and her breath is pretty foul, but she is never not excited to see me and she always knows when I need a hug. A whole decade of Mabel, the one constant for Eddie and I through divorce, relocation, loss and change. She's always been there. And today, like so many other days, she was exactly what we needed. #jackahuahua #jackahuahuasofinstagram #mydog #mabeldog

This one. 💚 For the last 8 weeks while my health conditions have flared this is the one who has been by my side. He's the one who has stepped up and checked on me. He's lived with me and these illnesses since they landed in our lives. He's never been anything but compassionate and understanding. He's the one person who understands and gets it. He doesn't expect me to get better overnight. He accepts my current limitations. He never says oh perhaps you'll feel better if you exercise or perhaps you just need some rest. He knows those things don't help right now. Being a friend to someone with an invisible chronic illness isn't easy I'm aware. But when you speak up about how you feel and all you hear is silence it feels exceptionally lonely. And when your mental health is already struggling trying to accept your situation, when you already want to cry every single day with the frustration at your body and brain, when you can't raise your head to look people in the eye because your vision is blurred and you're not sure you'll understand what they're saying anyway, when even getting out of bed feels like a challenge....the silence is deafening. One of the worst side effects of a chronic illness is loneliness and if it weren't for this legend of a little human I don't know where I would be.