Three ILLfluencers wrote three different things this month, and somehow they’re all saying the same thing from a different angle.

Zenovia Wright (@zenoviawright) wrote about how your diagnosis gets a seat at the table but doesn’t get the final vote. She’s talking about the way a lot of us started shrinking our lives the moment we got diagnosed, saying no to things before we even asked what it would take to make them work. She’s not saying ignore your body. She’s saying stop letting fear answer for you before you’ve even asked the question. Tiana Sherrod (@flowtious_soul_yoga) wrote about being the expert on your own body, and how walking into a doctor’s office doesn’t mean leaving everything you know about yourself at the door. You don’t need the medical terminology to know something has changed. You don’t need credentials to say that’s not normal for me. Your lived experience is its own expertise, and it belongs in the room right next to theirs. Raynetta Smith (@thehauteprgirl) wrote about choosing yourself without guilt, and how surgery, MS, and going back to a high-stress job taught her that self-care isn’t a facial and brunch anymore. It’s monitoring her blood pressure, choosing the workout that supports her body instead of depleting it, and not letting somebody else’s urgency become stress she carries home. Three women, three lessons, one truth: You get to take up space in your own life, even with a chronic illness, especially with one. All three blogs are up now. Click the link in our bio to read them. #WeAreILLMatic #ILLfluencers #BlackWomenWithMS #LupusAwareness #ChronicIllnessCommunity