Great intro post @onestrangeanimal! I loved what you said: "Because in the things that really matter we are all so much more alike than we are different."
That is exactly how I feel! We have so much more in common with others than we might imagine. I'm reading Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari at the moment and it's fascinating to learn about other species of human. Really puts racism/sexism/homophobia etc into perspective!
Also re CFS, I have a mild case of it. I got it a number of years ago after getting glandular fever, and I had to spend 8 months living with my parents so I could sleep constantly and recover. It's manageable for me now, but I still get burnt out much faster than most people. My Uncle also has it, but he has fibro too (what is ME?)
Thank you so much for your kind words @hannahimsa 😊 Yes unfortunately people tend to focus on what divides us rather than what unites us. But veganism is gaining momentum now and the collective consciousness seems to be shifting, so I'm hopeful that things will change for the better.
Wow that book sounds really interesting! Thank you so much for the tip! I am fascinated by the other human species that once shared this planet with our own. Last year I took the National Geographic's DNA test (Geno 2.0) and found out that I'm 1.1% Neanderthal. That's a little less than the average European, but I still find it fascinating that another species lives on in me - in most of us really. Prejudice is such a tragic thing.
Sorry to hear that you also have CFS, but really glad it's so mild that it allows you to lead a meaningful life and to travel - how wonderful! Sorry about your uncle. Mine was also a mild case at first, but I had no idea what the problem was so I kept pushing myself over the limits and then I crashed really bad. Sometimes I feel so stuck and frustrated, I miss my life and I miss travelling so much... But I know that others have recovered, so recovery IS possible. ME is the most common name for the condition in Europe. I usually write ME/CFS as I know that the latter is the most used name in the US and in Australasia.
Btw I absolutely love your user name 😊
I also recently found out I have Neanderthal variants! I'm 100% Europe genetically, despite being from New Zealand. I'm British, French, Danish and a little bit Spanish. I have 331 Neanderthal variants, which is quite high, but expected for Europeans as you mention.
I was fortunate to have my Uncle's knowledge about it, as I also would have had no idea what was wrong without his insight. I got CFS just before leaving on a big trip I'd been organising and after a few months I had to cut the trip short and go home as it just wasn't feasible with the fatigue. That was when I went back to my parents and took about 8 months off so I could recover as much as possible. And it hasn't come back really since then. When I get burnt out now, I can recover in a couple of days, which is fairly easy to manage.
Thank you! Re username compliment :)
That is so cool 😊 What test did you take?
I'm so so happy for you, that you were able to stop before tour body crashed 😃
Thanks 😊 We used 23andMe! I recommend :) There are other options though. Have you looked into Cold Water Therapy? My Uncle does it.
23andMe seems to be a good one. I opted for Geno 2.0, but I'd like to take a different one sometime to see how much the results may differ.
I'd never heard about Cold Water Therapy. In which ways does it help? How are things going for your uncle?