Finding your way in life when your daily life is a fight against hidden dangers
My brain sees sabre-toothed tigers everywhere. Hidden behind the trees of the jungle, up in the foliage of the canopy and sneaking up from behind me.
My brain believes I still live in the jungle. That I still hunt and gather. That dangers are all around.
My brain never adjusted to modern 21st-century life.
Yours didn’t either, although I hope for your sake that it has adapted better than mine.
It’s not just our brains that still live in the jungle and on the steppes. When you live with invisible illness your everyday life feels like a wilderness.
Throughout the day, we scan for dangers, except now we seek them inside ourselves.
When will our body let us down again? Is this sensation new or old? Do we need to get it checked or will it pass? Will we flare? Will we make it to that appointment? Will we ever go out ever again?
Can we trust ourselves ever again?
Our Toolbox
But while we go through this, we also gather tools to make life in this time easier.
We read books on best practices and mindset shifts. We take our medication, chemical and natural. We get to know the lay of the land that is our body and get to better prepare ourselves for when a metaphorical thunderstorm strikes. We now know to have our blanket and candles ready for when a dark winter arrives.
Life with illness is truly like living in the wilderness. We know of the dangers that lurk, invisible but very real.
Thankfully even in these times we have a tribe to fall back on when we fall. Whether our family, our friends or the online community who get it, people will catch us when we ask them to do so.
They can’t fend off the tigers for us, but they are there when we inevitably do get hurt by one.
Sandra Postma
Posted on 12 September 2025 on Substack
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