Hello lovely Shift.MS community, I wanted to share a personal achievement, and an invitation for anyone London-based. I'm a writer, but writing has felt REALLY FUCKING HARD since my diagnosis in April 2021. As I've written about in a blog here on Shift, I had to push back deadlines, cancel meetings, and generally press pause on my creative career right when I was getting into the swing of things. However, towards the end of last year I got my arse in gear and decided to take myself on a writing retreat, which was absolutely the reset I needed. I now have a new play, MAGGOTS, opening at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre in North West London next week - running 30th Jan until 10th Feb. MAGGOTS focusses on the residents of a block of flats in London, and the moment they realise that their neighbour has been missing for a while and something isn't quite right. It promises to be an intimate evening of storytelling exploring themes of loneliness (a feeling I know we can all relate to with this disease), community, and connection (with some hopeful moments too!) I'd love to use this as an opportunity to connect with other MSers in London, a community that I haven't really tapped into. I only know one other person with MS; a close friend of mine who was also unfortunately diagnosed in 2022. If anyone of you London-based people are interested in coming along and connecting, the link for more info and to book tickets is below. You can use the code LIGHTBULB10 for £5 off per ticket, which makes them just a tenner. app.lineupnow.com/event/maggots If you do decide to come along, please drop me a message and let me know which night so we can say hello and connect! Lots of love to all x