I just want to let you know that I haven’t disappeared and explain why there have been fewer posts in recent weeks here on my website, Modern Medieval Cuisine.
Unfortunately, I’ve been having health problems. I was diagnosed about ten years ago with a functional neurological disorder that affects movement, muscle strength, and cognitive function. It also causes nerve pain and is also associated with chronic bouts of extreme fatigue. Unfortunately, I have had a flare-up of this in the last few weeks. In addition, and it is possibly connected, I have been experiencing blurred vision. The upshot is that I cannot work as much and have to pace myself, which I’m not always good at doing.
I’m moving towards doing 2-3 hours per day of writing and research in my study, but until this week that just hasn’t been possible. Sometimes I’ve just not been able to read my computer screen because of the blurred vision, and besides I have found doing ‘brain work’ tires me out.
However, pacing myself, I hope I might be able to write up some research I’ve been working on this week for my book; it’s about cassia, cassia buds and cinnamon. The loose plan is to have a new blog post up by next week.
I’m always very conscious of the fact that I have monthly subscribers to my website who help to defray some of the costs involved in being an independent creator and researcher, and to them I would like to say not only a big thank you for continued support but also ask them to be patient with me.
All good wishes to you all,
Christopher
P. S. If anyone is interested in functional neurological disorder(s), you can read about it here: https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/brain-nerves-and-spinal-cord/functional-neurological-disorder/
MONK'S MODERN MEDIEVAL CUISINE 
I am so sorry to hear this. It doesn’t sound fun. Hang in there! As someone with an auto immune disorder, I get the weird way in which a flare up can derail the best plans. Just give yourself the same grace you’d give your best friend. And, at least for me, finding a way to deal with stress and work on pacing myself as a daily lifestyle, is key to being as functional as possible.
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Sorry to hear about your autoimmunity. There’s some overlap with autoimmunity in my own case. It was discovered I have autoimmune atrophic gastritis which meant I couldn’t process vitamin B12 properly, which evidently caused some of the neuro stuff. Are you good at pacing yourself?
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I’m definitely a bit of a type A and a go getter. I have a lot of energy and curiosity, so, while wonderful, it’s a bit of a problem too, lol. I’ve spent quite a bit of time learning to channel that into something more functional. To do that, I’ve learned meditation, learned about my triggers and also to pay attention to how I’m feeling physically (which has been hard since I got very good at disconnecting from pain or physical warnings) and back off when I get early warning signs. I learned to like myself. I wouldn’t treat a good friend like that so I mostly no longer treat myself that way.
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Thanks for sharing this. It’s very helpful.
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Thank you!
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Good advice, especially about giving oneself the same grace as one would give a best friend. That’s a useful way of thinking about it.
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Thank you for sharing the health issue with us. I hope the diagnosis will lead to a positive outcome. We will miss the frequency of blogs but that makes any of them “sweeter” when they arrive. Your health is important!
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Thank you, Elise. I appreciate all your support.
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I was very excited when I visited Geneva in June and went to my favourite spice shop, and found cassia buds for sale. I can’t wait to play with them.
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A very interesting spice. I got mine from an Austrian online store. They’re not widely available.
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It’s only as I get older that I appreciate how exhausting ‘brainwork’ can be. If I’d understood it earlier, I might not have thrown long commutes into the mix. Hindsight is amazing.
Do take care. You might need to be selfish.
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I enjoy using my brain though sometimes find it hard to switch off. This condition, when it has flared up over the years (it started nearly 30 years ago), has always had a cognitive element. It can feel like my brain closes down. When that happens I can barely think and will struggle even to talk. So I have to pace myself to try to prevent that, and so you’re right, I have to be ‘selfish’. Thanks for your support, April.
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Poor you! So sorry you’ve got these problems to deal with. Don’t try and do too much.until you feel better..you need to build yourself up.
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Thank you.
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