'M.E. myself and I' by Anna Redshaw

‘WhatsApp Walks’ with my lovely dad.

There’s nothing quite like getting to immerse yourself in the great outdoors.

But Outside is often out of reach for me. I’m “mostly-housebound*”, and by that I mean I leave my house for perhaps a total of 6 hours a month if I’m lucky.

So my dad takes me on regular walks via photos, and videos, and short audio clips of birds singing and leaves rustling in the wind.

I never appreciated, or even knew that I should be appreciating, the mere act of walking. But my dad truly does, whilst wishing that I could still be by his side. Getting to share these walks this way is the loveliest thing

It’s not without consequence because M.E. cares not about the fact I’m lying still and ‘only’ looking at a screen now and then.

But it’s something we both treasure and something that brightens my weeks no end.

*I use “mostly-housebound” over “housebound” because there are those hours where I do step out of the front door into the outside world. I don’t want to blur the lines of what housebound truly means: unable to leave home at all, or requiring significant assistance when they do.