One Year of A Body Re-bells: More Than 110 Episodes and Still Talking

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More than a hundred and ten episodes. Listeners in 68 countries, 390 cities. And it all started with me wondering whether I'd have enough to talk about. Apparently, that wasn't going to be a problem.

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It's a body rebalance. And we're one year old. A year of medical mysteries. And stories told.

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I don't have a cake, and I'm not entirely sure how you put a candle on a podcast, but I do want to take a little time to celebrate, reflect on this first year, and thank you for listening. When I started, I made myself a promise. I would keep making this podcast for as long as I enjoyed it. That was the arrangement. I didn't want it to become another obligation. Living with chronic illness already provides plenty of those. Appointments, medications, paperwork, and trying to remember what I walked into the kitchen for. I wanted the podcast to be something I looked forward to. A year later, it still is. Some episodes take more work than others. Sometimes I know exactly what I want to say, and sometimes I get halfway through writing and realize I've wandered off somewhere. Usually, I find my way back. Occasionally, the wandering turns out to be the episode. But I still enjoy taking a thought, a memory, or an experience, and working out how to share it. Even when the subject is difficult, there's satisfaction in finding the words. And after more than 110 episodes, I still have things I want to say. Those of you who know me may not find that particularly surprising. When you live with an illness for 20 years, you collect a fair amount of material. Some of it comes from medical appointments, some comes from the ordinary business of getting through the day. And some comes from those moments when you think, surely I cannot be the only person dealing with this. That thought has given me plenty to talk about. Sarcoidosis is part of my everyday life, so it naturally finds its way into these episodes. So do the frustrations, adjustments, and uncertainties that come with living with chronic illness. Sometimes I want to talk about something serious. Sometimes I need to complain a little. And sometimes I find something funny in a situation that wasn't especially amusing while it was happening. A little distance can help with that. Though I reserve the right to remain irritated about certain things indefinitely. One of the biggest surprises of this first year has been seeing where people are listening. According to the podcast statistics, A Body Rebels has reached 68 countries and 390 cities. I had to sit with that for a moment. When I'm writing an episode, I'm thinking about what I want to say and whether I'm making any sense. I'm certainly not picturing a map with hundreds of cities on it. Then I look at those numbers and realize that something I wrote about my own life has traveled to places I may never visit. Somewhere, someone has given part of their day to listening. For my little corner of the podcast world, that feels remarkable. Of course, a number on a screen can only tell me so much. It doesn't tell me what kind of day someone was having when they pressed play, or which part of an episode stayed with them. But I like to think that every now and then someone hears something familiar. Perhaps it's a frustration they've struggled to explain. Perhaps it's an experience they thought nobody else would understand. Or perhaps they simply appreciate hearing someone complain about something that has been annoying them too. There's a certain comfort in that. Our experiences of illness aren't identical. We have different symptoms, different circumstances, and different kinds of support. What one person finds manageable may be enormously difficult for someone else. I can only speak from my own experience. I've lived with sarcoidosis for 20 years. The stories I tell come from that life, and my opinions come with all the limitations of being one person trying to make sense of it. I don't expect everyone to agree with me. But we don't have to agree about everything to recognize something in each other's experiences. Someone listening halfway around the world might understand a particular frustration immediately. Someone much closer to home might have a completely different experience. That's part of what interests me about sharing these stories. I know where they begin. I don't always know where they'll connect. I also want to thank everyone who has spent time with the podcast this year. Some of you have been listening since the beginning, back when I was still figuring out whether I could keep this going. Some of you found it along the way. And some of you may be listening for the first time today. In which case, you've arrived just in time for the birthday episode. Your timing is excellent, although I'm afraid I've already explained the situation with the cake. Whether you've listened to one episode or worked your way through more than a hundred, I appreciate the time you've given me. There are plenty of things you could be doing, and plenty of other voices you could be listening to. The fact that you spend some of that time here matters to me. If someone had told me a year ago that I'd make more than 110 episodes, I probably would have had a few questions. The first would have been, what on earth am I going to talk about? Well, now we know. Life with chronic illness keeps supplying material, and apparently I keep having opinions about it. But reaching this anniversary means more to me than reaching a particular episode count. I started something without knowing how long I'd want to do it. Over the past year, I've kept returning to it, finding subjects I care about and stories I want to tell. I'm pleased about that. There's still work involved. Enjoying something doesn't mean every part of it is easy, but I still look forward to putting an episode together, and I'm glad I gave myself the chance to try. So, what happens next? I'll keep writing. I'll keep talking about sarcoidosis, chronic illness, and the experiences that find their way into my life. There will probably be more frustrations, a few more memories, the occasional opinion that I suspect is perfectly reasonable, even if someone else might disagree. And, I hope, plenty of opportunities to laugh. I don't have the next year neatly planned. Considering how unpredictable chronic illness can be, that seems sensible. I'll take it an episode at a time. The promise I made at the beginning still stands. I'll keep doing this for as long as I enjoy it. Right now, I do. To everyone who has listened during this first year, thank you. Thank you for spending time with my stories, my thoughts, my complaints, and my occasional attempts at humor. More than 110 episodes, 68 countries and 390 cities. That's quite a first birthday. Happy birthday, Abody Rebels. I'm looking forward to seeing what we have to talk about next. This has been A Body Rebels. If there's a topic or an issue you'd like me to discuss, you're welcome to write. I'd love to hear what's on your mind. I'm Tate. Thanks for sharing this time with me. Until next time, take care of yourself, keep breathing, and remember, sarcoidosis is only rare until you're the one living with it.

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It's a body rebels, the body rebels, and the one you're still telling me medical mystery. When it's a body closer to it, it's a bully we're okay, it's a bully whipped, it's a bully whipped, it's a body.