Thanks for checking in! I have a rare NET in my breast, along with kidney disease, diabetes, a missing lung, and many other co-mordibities. I was very ill when I was 21 (now 69) and lost my lung and mobility to swine flu. The kidney disease comes from decades of pain killers. So I've been partially disabled and in chronic pain my entire adult life. And yes have a daughter, a grand-daughter, have been widowed, remarried, worked full time, and more...which is just to say I've done much much better than I expected to as a young woman.
I'm a writer by trade, and have been fortunate to publish numerous books and work professionally. But in terms of creativity, or stretch, my fave is a blank notebook (and caffeine) and just free writing or doodling in words and then also drawing and watercolor. Since my diagnosis about 6 months ago I wrote 101 haiku about a lot of things, including my health. These tiny poems are meditative. I love some kind of daily practice that helps give shape. I think an oral history or storytelling with friends or family is also wonderful. I'm in an interfaith group and when one member turned 80 she told us the "story of her life." Took two long lunches! Anyway, I won't go on...but what appeals to you? I think anything you start can be rewarding.

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