At the age of 17 I developed a condition called myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.) which left me a once healthy, active and vibrant person, bedbound and unable to leave my home.
This mirror box represents where I would be if I could. I dream about the days spent in this beautiful park in my childhood with friends, family and our dogs. I remember so fondly the time spent running on this expanse of grass and playing with my nieces and nephews in the playgrounds.
Days in the sun, picnics, pedalos at the boating lake, feeding the ducks and summers dancing with my family to the tune of sweet sounding music from the bandstand. I hope and long for days to come, when I will be able to do that once again, when my life which exists within my bedroom walls can be as vast and expansive as Regents Park.
When life is once again lived, and my days overflowing rather than spent alone in the dark waiting for them to pass. There are around 240,000 adults and children that suffer from myalgic encephalomyelitis in the UK. With a quarter suffering as badly as I do, unable to leave their homes, or even bear the light to look out of their windows.
We are all missing, missing from our jobs, friends and families, missing entirely from our lives as we knew them and too unwell to advocate for ourselves. It has been years since I’ve been well enough to see Regents Park, but it fills me with joy that a part of me is here today, and that my voice is once again being heard.
