I think I know why I always give too much information when I’m asked anything about myself. It’s the desire to be seen as more than one thing.

Do you ever find that you feel misunderstood or underestimated? Having a particular medical condition or profession can lead people that way. If you have something ‘widely known’ like diabetes, epilepsy or cancer, if you are a doctor or teacher, or if you openly declare yourself to be of a certain persuasion, then it can feel someone has got out a rubber stamp and you can never be anything more. No matter how hard you might try.

So if you feel largely unseen, it’s on you to make sure you see more in other people. If you feel like so many parts that make you you have been forgotten, then be gentle with others too. So I have MS but I’m also a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a writer and the one thing that holds me together: I am a Christian. Everyone has more than one identity. Everyone has multiple layers and many faces that they may or may not show, depending on their audience.

It can be frustrating, even isolating, when you feel people only see you as one thing. It says in Psalm 139 v1, You have searched me and you know me. The rest of the psalm takes us in every dimension- from the womb to the ends of the earth and up to the highest height. God is everywhere, and sees every dimension. That gives me great comfort, especially on days when I feel reduced to 1D. The God who created me knows me. And He knows you too, with all your surprising contradictions, foibles and hidden fears. He sees them all, and loves you no matter what.