What Was Interesting, Frustrating and Great About My #Chroniclife Live-Tweet

As I wrote yesterday, the 48 hour #chroniclife live-tweeting experiment I did this week was interesting, frustrating and fun. I also included all of the tweets from the experiment in case you aren't on Twitter or had better things to do. Anyway, here are my thoughts about how it went.

What was interesting 
Since the whole idea was to comment throughout the day about what was going on with me, I spent the entire 2 days continually checking in with myself to see how I was feeling and what I was thinking. In doing this I actually found myself picking up on my body's cues faster than I normally do. I was just a little more in tune with myself. The flip side of being so aware is that I was so aware. It was harder to distract myself - something I normally spend a good deal of time trying to do.

I'm torn really. Part of me thinks being so in tune is a good thing but part of me thinks the more time I spend focusing on all of my symptoms the bigger they seem and, worse, the less time I spend on living life. Perhaps there is a balance to strike.

What was frustrating 
The hardest part about this was trying to express myself in 140 characters - well 128 characters since I needed to include the 12 character #chroniclife. Many of my tweets had to be rewritten 3 or 4 times before going out. My sentences were incomplete and I frequently felt like I wasn't able to really convey the complexity and nuances I intended. That's the nature of Twitter though, isn't it? It's a snapshot, not a movie. I hope that everyone who reads will understand that this snapshot into my world is just that. My diseases manifest themselves in different ways and with different severity from day to day, hour to hour, month to month. I guess that's why I blog about it.

The only other frustration was toward the end. My brain sort of hit a wall after dinner on the 2nd day. I started feeling overwhelmed because my brain just stopped reflecting and processing the way it had been up until then. I guess I hadn't realized just how big of a task I was asking of my foggy migraine/fibro brain.

What was Great
Overall I found this experiment to be a truly wonderful experience.
-I got to interact with some new people on Twitter. I got to see myself and my diseases from a fresh perspective.
-I was inspired several times throughout the process.
-I got some great ideas for Migraine Awareness Month in June and even got some ideas for future blog posts.
-I also started thinking about ways I can use social media to communicate and be more transparent with friends and family about what it's like to live with chronic migraines and fibromyalgia.

Of course, all the credit belongs to Britt over at the Hurt Blogger who created this experiment and inspired me to participate. Thanks Britt!