One element of my creative practice that I will never shy away from is raising awareness of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, otherwise known as EDS. I have hEDS (hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) and I will always use my platform to raise awareness wherever I possibly can.
Never Will You Ever
by Lauran
We share a smile as we pass one another when we walk through town but you don't see the wraps keeping my joints stable so I can move without crumbling in pain. You watch as I laugh with my friends over a cold glass of Prosecco but you haven't scrolled my endless messages cancelling catch-up after catch-up whilst I lay in bed in the same pjs I've worn all week. You cast your judgement as I walk into an accessible toilet but you don't see the struggles I have to confront in a public bathroom. Did you see my upload about aesthetic bedroom shelves with colour-coordinated books lined up? I didn't show you my other shelves with unaesthetic coordinated medication. You may think it's all in my head but you don't encounter the endless battles I face just to have a doctor listen. My smile hides the debilitating pain and masks the incessant panic attacks where my heart pounds at a rate I never thought possible. You can't see the fog that clouds my brain and makes it hard to think from one second to the next. You will never see any of this, but it doesn't make it any less real.
A piece of writing I created about the invisibility of EDS.
