Welcome.
to the space to be honest about ways that life looks differently than we had planned.
Carrie has her Master’s in Social Work degree with a concentration in Behavioral Health. She has also dealt with radically life changing chronic health issues for over a decade, while striving to stay grounded in her faith within the midst of all of it. Drawing from these experiences, this is where Carrie writes about redefining disability, shares helpful tips for managing her pain, and honors stories of striving to choose courage, resolve, and strength of character (ie: grit) while in the midst of suffering .
is it really possible to suffer well?
it sure isn’t natural.
our human nature is to look away.
but what if the pain doesn’t go away? and if distraction’s not an option, how do we cope?
we have to choose to wade in. we have to choose to believe that beauty can be borne of our pain.
learn more about the
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Interested in meeting individually with Carrie to gain space to be honest about that heavy daily burden you are carrying while also walking with her towards rebuilding a life you love?
what’s new
on the blog
7 Tips for Exercising with Chronic Pain.
my reconditioning journey Last Sunday, I completed a 7 mile Eucharistic procession (google it 😉 ) by foot, took a power nap, and apparently feeling jacked, proceeded to play soccer alongside my team that same night. I won’t say this was my greatest game or that the day didn’t call for any Tylenol (popped 500mg when I felt severe head…
Chronic Pain Survival Kit
As a spoonie/migrainer/potsie/whatever else you want to call someone who deals with chronic health issues, it’s taken a whole lot of experimenting to know what coping mechanisms out there work best when it comes to the physical, emotional, & spiritual weight of dealing with the heavy burden of daily physical pain. Twelve years in, I’m STILL learning, but- I do…
What it Really Feels Like.
2024 Edit of this post: Republishing the post from 2019 below, which I revisited recently while doing some blog revamping. While rereading this, I was so struck by how normal my way of operating was to me at the time…a time when I thought I was doing fairly well. Just a few months after I wrote everything below, I learned…
With Me.
After a (beautiful) escapade through Ireland, the beginning of my final weekend in Lourdes started pretty choppy. My mom, who was supposed to be with me at the time, happen to acquire a massive kidney stone a few days before she was meant to leave and had to call off plans (she’s good now!), and I was definitely missing her…
Two Weeks In.
Just like that– I’ve been in Europe for two weeks (and a whirlwind of two weeks at that).Between bus rides, trains, and a lot of time in the air, so much has happened in the past two weeks that I myself am even having a hard time remembering. So let’s start at the beginning? For what I can only chalk…
Changes.
The last 13 months in a nutshell: 1) saying yes to a (part-time) middle-school counseling job after a long season off to focus on my health, 2) a long commute, working around student schedules, and expectations beyond simply counseling soon making me feel I was not capable of doing this job well, 3) deciding to return last fall after a…
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“Having a chronic illness has taught me there is joy in vulnerability and a beauty in sharing our suffering. It forces me, daily, to choose to believe the fact that I am loved for who I am and not what I do- that I still matter and my life still holds meaning when it constantly looks differently than I imagined it would be. It’s taught me to choose grit.”
Carrie Schuessler, APSW