#SEBestLife

In college I was a member of like 5 different Track & Field teams. What can I say, I transferred schools a couple times lol. I was a thrower. I threw discus, hammer, and weight throw seriously but played around with the other "field" events.  Competing in Track & Field is probably one of the greatest memories I have of my "pre-sick" times. I can't remember  every track meet, but I can remember some like they were yesterday. I used to be very annoyed by how vivid my memories were, since throwing really isn't a thing for me anymore. But now I appreciate the fact I can remember at all. Track taught me so many things besides how to throw. During my senior year and final season as a collegiate athlete, my Coach and I were in Irvine, California for Conference Championships and I had just thrown a really far throw.... into No-Mans-land.  As I finished my final throw, it rocketed into the air, took a definite right turn, and flew right over ...

Los Angeles, CA | 02.05.2018 SEB Staff  When was the last time you celebrated you? Spoonie Essentials Box members already know what tools we put in our 2018 welcome box to guide  along the journey to the happiest, healthiest, best life possible. But for those of you who aren't yet members our process of Self-Care Discovery begins with Celebrating YOU! This year we made the #SEBYou18 box the first box of the year to jump start your self-care with a bang! Really taking care of you means knowing its ok being true to yourself and honoring your needs and wants in life. It takes courage, and time! This month we've created a starter kit to get Spoonie Essentials Family Members in the swing of celebrating "TEAM YOU" and what we hope will be a life long practice of taking care of yourself in fun & different ways!  #SEBYou18 Features the very first official Spoonie Essentials Awareness Apparel T-shirt. These soft cotton blend shirts  in iconic black & white...

The Signature hashtag for Spoonie Essentials Box was initially inspired by my desire to explain quickly what it felt like living with Chronic Illness. I always felt I had to add, "my illness is invisible, I'm not" in every conversation with doctors, counselors, friends or family. I knew it was challenging for people to understand that I was battling with things they could not see on the outside. The more pressing matter on my heart, was making sure that they understood that I was aware of the things I needed to do to "manage" my illness, but they were missing that I was a person too. I had feelings, I had a personality, I had a life outside of my illness. I was a person living with illness. Person, being the part everyone seemed to be missing. When I talked to members of the #SEBfamily I found that many of them experienced this too. So I felt like, we collectively and without words, all agreed that it was the best way to communicate that. But soon I sta...

“A grateful heart is a magnet for miracles”. A quote I read on Instagram and reposted. Hours later after I get forwarded an email from a subscriber just popping in to wish us well.  In the midst of hundreds of unread emails was this little miracle. This little kindness. Crystal you, kind-sweet-beautiful-soul, I promise you, I have an immensely grateful heart for you. Thank you you so much for taking time out of your day to spread a little love to us.  I like to think I have a grateful hear and that's why the universe sent me Crystal, as my miracle today. It's a miracle that even though Crystal is one of the subscribers affected by the chaos. Somehow she found it in her heart to spread love and encouragement. I found it beautifully ironic that one of my own subscribers literally "spread love, no matter the occasion".  I couldn't have a more grateful  heart right now. Crystal, I'm so grateful for humans like you! As I sit and process refunds, finish...

Natalie, Uncharegables CEO & I. Canary Islands, Spain  At some point during my chronic illness experience I realized my only goal had become too “just feel even a little bit better”. I  was frustrated. I felt stuck. I was “sick of being sick and tired”. I hated not being able to eat anything that tasted 'good'. I found out the really hard way I was deathly allergic to Sulfa and most chemicals, so I was terrified of using anything on my body after my skin healed from my DRESS flare. I was inside a room with no view almost everyday, hardly ever leaving the house. Frankly, there was nothing about my life that I really enjoyed, it was all "necessary regiments for my health". All I wanted was too wake up every day and feel okay, for once! "When I really thought about it, all I really wanted was to wake up everyday and be okay with me. Even the parts that I hated, like trolling the internet for hours a day before buying body wash. Or second guessing...

Spoonie Essentials: Everyday Magic "This is not a game. This is my real life." Before her life-changing diagnosis, Brittani lived a life full of competing priorities. Politics, athletics, school and everything in-between kept Brittani at a non-stop pace until all was brought to a screeching halt with chronic illness. The All-American Athlete spent three months in the hospital fighting to survive and beat the odds, but that struggle was just the beginning of a new kind of existence for the Spoonie. What is a Spoonie, you may ask? A Spoonie is anyone who suffers from chronic illness, in reference to Christine Miserandino's Spoon Theory (which you can read more about here ). Diagnosed with Lupus, Crohn's Disease, Dress Syndrome, a survivor of colon cancer who also manages multiple food allergies, Brittani is, herself, a Spoonie. After looking death in the eyes and reclaiming her ability to walk, something doctors told her would be impossible, she's r...

by: Britt Renee', Owner #SEB Okay. Okay. Okay. OKAY! Look. I'm going to admit right off the bat that I'm making a bad decision. Something I shouldn't do. Something I always tell other people NOT to do: I'm writing this blog in the midst of what you could call a heightened emotional state. I'm not exactly pissed off, and neither am I perversely sad. But I'm definitely annoyed. And being annoyed gets my writing gears going, and makes me want to rant. In the interest of not being a total "negative nancy", I will do my best to keep this from becoming a rant, but I make no promises. Cool? Cool. Spoonie Essentials DIY Project Ideas (Google.com) So. Here's the thing. I hate flakiness. I really can't stand it. It's one of the worst qualities in the world--for me, flaky people fall somewhere between people who don't think puppy pictures are adorable, and those annoying couples who make JOINT social media profiles. WHA...