December 18, 2020 Columns by Jamie Hughes Reclaiming Our Power When We Feel Powerless I don’t know about you all, but when I first learned I had multiple sclerosis, I felt utterly powerless. Weak. Beaten down. Cornered. Cowed. Yes, I experienced all of these negative feelings (and a hundred more besides) in the…
December 4, 2020 Columns by Jamie Hughes Both Now and Someday “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the…
November 20, 2020 Columns by Jamie Hughes On Being Truly Thankful Well, friends, we are coming to the end of 2020. Thanksgiving is next week, and believe it or not, Christmas is just around the corner. And while I can’t say I’m grateful for all the challenges this very weird…
November 6, 2020 Columns by Jamie Hughes 5 Ways to Let Go of the Stress Well, folks, we made it to the end of a very long political season and an even longer week. I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel a bit relieved. In fact, I have tension and stress trapped…
October 23, 2020 Columns by Jamie Hughes On Theme and Variations A few weeks back, I listened to a segment on NPR’s “Here & Now” featuring superstar pianist Lang Lang and his latest recording project. I’m still thinking about it. He decided to tackle Johann Sebastian Bach’s masterwork, “Goldberg…
October 16, 2020 Columns by Jamie Hughes Peace, My Heart, Peace Despite the melatonin and Kava tea, the hot baths and weighted blanket, I’m not sleeping very well these days. I haven’t been for months actually. In addition to the “low-burn” stresses that come with adulthood and the…
October 2, 2020 Columns by Jamie Hughes Balance Is Relative Multiple sclerosis has taught me many lessons over the last 16 years, and one of the most lasting ones has been about finding balance. I can’t run like a madwoman from one task to the next and not expect…
September 18, 2020 Columns by Jamie Hughes Who We Are and What We Do We’re now moving into the sixth month of quarantine, and it’s looking more and more like the world isn’t going to snap back to the way it was before all of this craziness started. I’m starting to think that’s…
September 4, 2020 Columns by Jamie Hughes Finding Soul Food in a Butterfly’s Visit I don’t know about you, but these last few months have been rough. Like, I-want-to-crawl-under-my-weighted-blanket-with-a-hot-water-bottle-clutched-to-my-midsection-and-listen-to-Chopin’s-“Nocturnes”-on-an-endless-loop rough. Life’s just like that sometimes, especially when you have multiple sclerosis. Ever since the pandemic started, things have only gotten more challenging. Now,…
August 21, 2020 Columns by Jamie Hughes What’s Haiku With You? I don’t know about you, but most mornings my brain feels like it’s full of hyperactive gerbils. This could be my multiple sclerosis, or it could be pandemic brain fog. Either way, I understand that song by…
August 7, 2020 Columns by Jamie Hughes Being Freed by Who I Am Every few days, I go out to our Little Free Library and change the messages on the two side walls, which are covered in chalkboard paint. One of my missives reads: “My ‘summer body’ plans didn’t work out,…
July 17, 2020 Columns by Jamie Hughes What Will We Do? I recently started writer David Sedaris’ MasterClass, and one piece of advice he keeps reiterating is the importance of keeping a diary, a daily record of your doings and dealings in this world. It’s a habit I’ve fallen…
June 19, 2020 Columns by Jamie Hughes Beach, Please! My family just returned from a lovely week-long vacation on the Gulf of Mexico. It’s always a wonderful time (and one perfectly suited to socially isolating) because we literally do nothing. We make no plans. We buy no tickets…
June 5, 2020 Columns by Jamie Hughes When Roses Change, Color Me Surprised Right now, it’s tempting to feel hopeless. COVID-19 is still out there with no vaccine in sight. Millions of people are out of work. And regardless of how you feel about the protests taking place in all 50 U.S.
May 22, 2020 Columns by Jamie Hughes Eugene Peterson and Lessons About Intentional Living The last few months have been interesting for obvious reasons. All of our routines have been toppled over like a stack of blocks, things that were once mundane now feel alien, and getting back to “normal” (whatever that looks…
May 8, 2020 Columns by Jamie Hughes How to Release Fear I just turned 42, and though I am wiser and stronger and more independent than I was a few decades ago, not everything is coming up roses. Some days, I feel weak and helpless. Other days, I’m overwhelmed. And…
April 17, 2020 Columns by Jamie Hughes Ralph and the Cherry on Top of Life I have a new personal hero. His name is Ralph Wendorf. We probably don’t have much in common. He’s not even an MS patient! I’ve never met him, and I likely never will. He lives across the country from…
April 3, 2020 Columns by Jamie Hughes How to Make Working from Home Work for You I just finished my third week of working from home due to the coronavirus, and I’ve learned a few things about what it takes to be successful outside of the office. Here are a few helpful tips for MS…
March 20, 2020 Columns by Jamie Hughes Divide and Conquer: Bravery in the Face of the Coronavirus I don’t know if you’ve heard or not, but there’s this coronavirus thing going around. And it is disrupting everything from concerts and conferences to schools and my kids’ recreation sports leagues. Don’t get me wrong, as a…
March 6, 2020 Columns by Jamie Hughes I Must Confess that I Love Needles As someone with 16 years of MS experience, I’ve grown to hate needles. I only have to give myself three shots a week now instead of seven, but I dread shot days as if they were the proverbial plague.
November 30, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Is multiple sclerosis everywhere, or am I just more aware of it now?