Notes from my sick bed ✍🏻

I got wiped out over the Easter weekend. This is what it taught me about listening to your body

My Easter weekend was not at all how I expected it to be. There were plans afoot: Sunday lunch with my family, Easter Monday lunch with James’ family, a mammoth wardrobe clear-out and maybe even some time in the garden. Turns out, my body very much had other ideas.

Enjoying a quiet early morning moment in my garden

I’ll spare you the details, but at about 1am on Friday morning, I came down with possibly the worst stomach bug I have ever experienced. I was awake all night until 6am, when the symptoms finally eased off and I could go downstairs, huddle under a blanket and sip water like my life depended on it.

My wholesome Easter plans immediately went out of the window. I was so depleted on Friday that I spent the entire day sleeping - I got through an entire season and a half of Friends because I had it on in the background while I slipped in and out of consciousness. It was like a bizarre fever dream, in which Joey got spat at, Monica and Chandler got married, and Rachel got pregnant.

On Saturday morning, I managed to eat a slice of toast with a very thin spread of butter and some marmite. On Sunday, I ate nothing but plain chicken, cucumber slices and plain pasta with a smidge of tomato sauce. On Monday, I successfully finished half of a wrap filled with, you guessed it, plain chicken and cucumber.

It’s been an upward trajectory from there for the most part, but my energy is still on the floor and my appetite is far from fully back yet.

What obscure life lesson have I taken from this? Well, I might be clutching at straws here, but the last time I was sick with a similar bug, it was 2021 and I had just spent several days with friends celebrating my birthday. Many of these celebrations involved a snazzy wine bar or lunch spot - a glass of fizz here, a bottle of rosé there because why not? It’s my birthday, COVID is still a thing and I am having the best time.

After one final birthday hurrah with some girlfriends at a local gastro pub, at which several bottles of Sauvignon Blanc were consumed, I woke up the next morning mildly hungover but otherwise OK. I thought I had got off lightly: oh, how wrong I was. I ended up spending that night on the bathroom floor, pleading with the universe to end my suffering.

Turns out, it’s true what they say about alcohol depleting your immune system. I have never been a heavy drinker, but I’ve found that if I have several social occasions in a row, at which I will usually have a couple of glasses of wine, my immune system effectively goes kaplunk.

Low level stress and upheaval also has its part to play. In both scenarios, I had gone through significant life changes in the preceding months. In 2021, it was living alone during two COVID lockdowns and starting a fledgling freelance business; in 2025, it was moving house, learning to drive and trying to keep that same freelance business afloat.

My mum gently reminded me of this during a FaceTime call. “You’ve had a lot to deal with in the last few months,” she said. “Learning to drive, moving house, losing clients at the end of last year…no wonder your body is telling you to slow down.”

She was, of course, absolutely spot on (mums are always right).

I have got a full plate. I told myself in January that this would be a deeply challenging year, mainly because learning to drive has terrified me since I was 17 and first got into a car with an overly friendly man called ‘Jazzy’ who was tasked with teaching me not to stall in the middle of a roundabout (he didn’t last long, let’s put it that way). I knew it was going to be uncomfortable, but I didn’t factor in all the other life stuff that also requires my attention and time - renovation plans, work, trying to stay creative and productive and grow my business while also juggling friendships and a relationship and a life.

Nothin but verdant green, sky blue, rusty orange-red and blossom pink

I started the year in quite a low place, disheartened by the gloom of winter and my inability to feel motivated about my work. Then spring arrived, and I got really busy really quickly, and suddenly it was full speed ahead. Everything was finally happening. My driving was improving, we bought our own car, our weekends were as jam packed as the working week. I didn’t stop even for a second to consider that I might need to schedule in some time to not do any of it, to just let myself be and not do.

So, that brings us to now. My new philosophy? As cliche as it sounds, it’s all about balance. That’s really what it is, isn’t it? Also, eating well, reading House & Garden magazine on the weekends, planting things in the garden (and hoping for the best), walking and walking and walking (rain or shine), hugging James (a lot). I’m trying to procrastinate less during the day so I can fully switch off from work in the evenings. I read every night in bed, use the fancy moisturiser (nice things deserve to be enjoyed) and laugh at every opportunity I get.

My life is so full, I am so lucky to be able to say that, but it’s a lot. It’s OK for it to wear us down sometimes, no matter how privileged we are. That’s life, I guess.

I just wish the reminder hadn’t come in quite such a gruesome and unpleasant format. 🙃

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you had a wonderful Easter if you celebrate 🐣