ONCE UPON A GENE - EPISODE 234 Chasing Glimmers - Illuminating Hope and Lessons in the Rare Disease Journey - Finding Glimmers for a Happier, Healthier Life with Katie Lloyd This new series, Chasing Glimmers, is all about finding the small, hopeful moments that shine through the darkest of times. Like you, Katie and I know how challenging the rare disease journey can be, but we also believe in the incredible power of connection, bravery and positivity. We'll share inspiring stories from the community, life lessons we've learned and explore how glimmers light our way forward. Let's chase those glimmers together! EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS Katie, what is your vision for this series? I think many caregivers to family members who have rare diseases, or perhaps they have a rare disease themselves, find themselves in a really dark place initially. It feels like you're in a deep trench where everything feels hopeless and scary. I'm not really in that place anymore, life has moved on a little bit, and I see things differently. I feel differently from how I did four years ago. But some of the narratives I see online tend to stay in that deep, dark place, surrounded by a lot of negativity. What I would love to see is people who change that narrative, who bring light and joy to their communities, despite all the terrible things that are happening. Effie, can you talk about the stories we want to share and what we want to pull from the community? I want to feature stories from the community about when someone inspires you to be brave, or stories about perspective changes and parent positivity. I believe we rise by lifting others and even celebrating someone's achievement or highlighting someone's inspiring content shifts the narrative. The bead doesn't need to be hidden, but the good needs to be highlighted. We'd love to hear stories of bravery and community connection, how positivity has affected you, how situations have manifested into new relationships and circumstances. We want to hear about the little Glimmers and the big ones too. Effie, what is your advice for protecting yourself from negativity? As a caregiver who was so sad, disconnected and deeply isolated, I reached out through podcasting and got everything I needed without giving anything, because I didn't have anything to give at the time. Through this, I found my community and my people. When you're in the thick of it, you need support and embrace, and that's what listening to other people's stories did for me. My advice is to seek out a space where you can just receive, like this podcast. Katie, what would you like to leave our friends with today? Please don't look at this as a crusade against all negativity, because sometimes things just aren't wonderful. Instead, start to take notice of glimmers that are happening in your life and see what happens if you turn your attention to it. LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED HNRNP Family Foundation https://www.hnrnp.org/ ONCE UPON A GENE - Episode 125 - A Very Rare and Very Real Adventure with DeSanto-Shinawi Syndrome Mom and Author of a Very Rare Adventure Katie Lloyd https://effieparks.com/podcast/episode-125-katie-lloyd CONNECT WITH EFFIE PARKS Website https://effieparks.com/ Twitter https://twitter.com/OnceUponAGene Instagram https://www.instagram.com/onceuponagene.podcast/?hl=en Built Ford Tough Facebook Group https://www.fac ebook.com/groups/1877643259173346/