To label or not to label? That is the question.

“What labels me, negates me.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche

I've currently got my health diagnoses listed in my twitter bio. I've included that I've got: Crohn's, Depression, Fibromyalgia. I did this to help others with similar conditions to find me/follow. It's a great way to connect and is how I met the numerous Crohnies as well as others who are chronically ill. And as I'm learning, twitter is all about connecting/networking. It's a great tool and I love the many people I've met, many of whom I follow for my varied interests (amongst which is health related, but it's a very interesting and eclectic group)

Anyway, lately I've been thinking about my twitter bio and whether or not to remove the labels which identify me as someone who is chronically ill. On the one hand, it is a large part of my focus and what drew me to twitter in the first place. On the other hand, it brings me down each time I look at my bio, as it is a constant reminder of my illnesses.

The twitter bio is the first thing people read when choosing whom to follow (at least, that's what I do, I read bios, cos I'm nosey like that, Ha!) anyway, I don't just want to be thought of as someone who carries SO many illnesses. It's a wonder more doctors and pharmaceuticals don't follow me. Haha.

Though I follow A LOT of people I try my best to interact as much as possible. It's a great way to bring myself out of my moods and also to distract myself from my pain.


To label or not to label? That is the question.

It's all about how I identify. I am chronically ill, but that doesn't define me. Hopefully by now, people who follow me have seen beyond that. The fact that they continue to follow, must say I'm not all that bad? lol

I don't know where I'm going with this post. Feels more like a ramble.

I have to think about this more in depth. To get to the bottom (NO pun intended, Ha!) of what is bothering me about the labels/bio. Hmm. I feel it's too limiting. And the bio is essentially a person's first impression of me. It's not until they (hopefully) interact with me that they can get a better idea of who I am. It's not like I spend the majority of my time tweeting about my illness, symptoms, etc. I *could* just leave the #ChronicallyAwesome hashtag, which encompasses the illness but what goes beyond it. Hmm. I'm so tempted to go and remove those labels. Something to ponder.


I came across the Nietzsche quote as I was writing this:

" What labels me, negates me."

This is exactly where I was going with the post. It perfectly encompasses how I'm feeling about labeling myself as someone who has SO many chronic illnesses. Because in doing so, I feel that the illnesses overtake me.  And in doing that, I take away from who I am (whomever that may be).



For now I'm just Kat. aka. "Alice". 
A girl who fell down the rabbit hole,
got lost in Wonderland.
 and is trying to make sense of things.