‘Wholehearted Rest’: Severe ME Awareness Day – August 8th 2023
Today, August 8 is Severe ME Awareness Day. 25% of the estimated 250 000 Australians with ME/CFS are bedridden or housebound. This figure skyrockets when you count those living with …
Follow Shiloh on Facebook and Instagram @byshi.art #byshiart
Shiloh Moore lives in South East Queensland, Australia. Now in her mid 30’s, she has lived with severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and Fibromyalgia (FM) since age 10, as you can read about in her advocacy pages. She expresses herself through art and writing to both describe and escape from constant pain.
Throughout her decades of illness she has grieved deeply all losses. After many years she has come to a stage of acceptance of her life with illness and believes her ‘life’ is far beyond her ‘life situation’.
Despite continued illness, Shiloh loves to laugh, loves people and is grateful for the beauty and joy she finds in simply being.
Shiloh is a self-taught artist. She can only sit up for short periods at a time, so her art is often drawn while lying down, then painted in short spurts sitting up. By doing short spurts she is able to ‘pace’ herself to minimise pain. The size of her artwork is small (5×5”, 4×6”, 5×7” and 8×10”) due to pain limiting movement in her arms. After each artwork is completed, she needs time to recover. Each artwork therefore represents a huge investment of Shiloh’s time and limited energy supplies, which makes her artwork all the more special. She also lovingly creates hand made cards. Shiloh feels it is worth the pain as she enjoys looking at her artwork and loves sharing it with others. It gives her a sense of purpose, achievement and quality of life.
Writing has been cathartic and therapeutic for Shiloh. From age 16 to 23 she wrote her book of poetry, ‘Stranger in the Moving Chair.’ In it she openly expressed her pain as well as observations of life around her and her passion for life. Feedback from the publication has been powerful and has warmed her soul. Copies are available to buy (AU$15ea) through Shiloh’s contact page.
Shiloh is passionate about: friendship, people, animals, emotions, spirituality, laughter, equality, peace, joy, hope, cards, correspondence, art, music, anything handmade, random acts of kindness, and finding beauty in the ordinary. She is drawn to cheesy teenage drama and dance movies and has a cheeky sense of humour!
She hopes that from this site you can catch a glimpse of both the seriousness of ME/CFS and FM and the joy of creativity.
Available here through Shiloh’s Etsy Shop ByShiArt “An amazing story of loss and triumph against the odds! The story expressed in poetry of one young person’s response to incredible changes …
Browse Shiloh’s latest artworks below. To see the full gallery, visit her Pinterest board. You can also follow her work on Instagram and Facebook. To learn more about Shiloh’s creative process, …
You can purchase prints, mugs, phone cases and many other items featuring Shiloh’s artwork from RedBubble
These are some examples of Shiloh’s original artwork. Click the “view more” button below to see the full gallery.
Today, August 8 is Severe ME Awareness Day. 25% of the estimated 250 000 Australians with ME/CFS are bedridden or housebound. This figure skyrockets when you count those living with …
Today, August 8 is Severe ME Awareness Day. 25% of the estimated 250 000 Australians with ME/CFS are bedridden or housebound. This figure skyrockets when you count those living with …
Dacher Keltner’s book ‘Awe the Transformative Power of Everyday Wonder’ was just that for me: transformative. It gives me language for concepts that resonate with my life. In the book, …