We recently connected with Megan Marjorie and have shared our conversation below.
Megan , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?
Ive been chronically Ill the majority of my life and growing up in a small town, I thought I was the ONLY person with a body like mine. But in an attempt to find community, and this strong feeling that I needed to “share my story “
With the encouragement of my childhood best friend .
In highschool I started writing under the pseudonym
“ Smile Magee”
Because I didn’t want anyone who personally knew me to know that I am sick.
For years I FEARED being labeled as “ the sick girl”
And that being my most identifying quality.
( I literally use to have nightmares about everyone knowing that I was sick, and basing there treatment of me purely based on my crappy health)
But after starting an anonymous
blog on social media.
A childhood determined to hide my illness evolved into a passion for patient advocacy work.
I now share my life and my story of living with multiple chronic illnesses on multiple social media platforms ,
I have been published on multiple websites including MSN, Yahoo, The Mighty , and most recently Global Genes
Have done radio, podcast , and news interviews all about living life with chronic disease .
And Have been nominated for a world wide patient advocacy award ( at that time the “ Wego Health Awards , now currently the “Social Health Awards “ )
People believe that once you start sharing on social media , “success” and a large following is inevitable.
And I have definitely learned that is not your case .
The choice to share about your life online , takes ALOT of work and dedication , with very very VERY little “monetary payment “ it is a label of love in every sense of the concept .
But for me the “payment “ comes when someone messages me , or comments and shares.
“ Because of something you wrote , because of content you created .. I feel less alone .. or I feel like I can “do this “. Or I felt hope that I could continue on . “
The “ Chronic Illness Community “ has absolutely changed my life and I feel honored to be a part of it , and hope to continue to share my story on a wider scale and help others through my experiences
My journey with chronic illness has made me a firm believer that Great joy and great pain can co-exist. And through my writing , and hopefully through the way I live my life I want to show people that a of you live a life full of pain , doesn’t mean you won’t live a life full of joy .
It’s been the pain in my life that’s actually made the joys I have so much richer .
Through learning social media , I’ve been able to share another love of mine .. which is photography! It’s SO fun To connect with the “ photography world “. I’ve been able to sell prints of my work , and NOTHING is cooler than seeing your art in someone’s home or office !
A piece of mine has also been on display with the Hogle zoos traveling tour for about a year , and that show just ended .
Going from the concept of “hopefully feeling less alone , to creating an online community, has been one of the biggest blessings, and most life changing things I have ever experienced
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Megan Marjorie .
I am 27 years old, id have my whole house covered in plants if I could , In my free time you will most likely find me watching travel vloggers on YouTube, cuddling with my massive dog poorly playing the use, hanging with family or friends , or doing something creative .
I am in love with writing , obsessed with photography, adore the process of “sharing a story “ ( no matter what medium is used to tell it ) and I battle multiple life threatening illnesses .
All these things together have led me down a path of freelance writing , patient advocacy, content creation, and photography
Ive been chronically Ill the majority of my life and growing up in a small town, I thought I was the ONLY person with a body like mine.
But in an attempt to find community, and this strong feeling that I needed to “share my story “
With the encouragement of my childhood best friend .
In highschool I started writing under the pseudonym
“ Smile Magee”
Because I didn’t want anyone who personally knew me to know that I am sick.
For years I FEARED being labeled as “ the sick girl”
And that being my most identifying quality.
( I literally use to have nightmares about everyone knowing that I was sick, and basing there treatment of me purely based on my crappy health)
But after starting an anonymous
blog on Facebook, Which led to an account on instagram, YouTube , TikTok,
I was connected to and by sites inviting me to share my story in more detail
And a a childhood determined to hide my illness evolved into a passion for patient advocacy work sharing my faith, and sharing the “story’ I was once so scared to tell
I now continue to share my life and my story of living with multiple chronic illnesses on multiple social media platforms with people around the globe,
I have been published on multiple websites including MSN, Yahoo, The Mighty , and most recently Global Genes
Have done radio, podcast , and news interviews all about living life with chronic disease hoping to share the message that “ Great joy and great pain can co exist ‘
And Have been nominated for a world wide patient advocacy award ( at that time the “ Wego Health Awards , now currently the “Social Health Awards “ )
But the most rewarding parts of “content creating “ and freelance writing for me have been the connections I have been able to make . People sharing their stories with me , telling them how something I wrote helped grow their faith , or helped them see their situation in a new perspective , but a message that forever changed me was when someone wrote me that they were planning on taking their life that day, but something I wrote convinced them to change that plan, and get the help they needed . Tears streamed down my face as I read this message , and I knew that I want to do this kind of writing / creating for the rest of my life , even if I never have a huge following . Its not the amount of followers you have that makes a difference in this world , but the ability God gives you to have something you write positively affect someone , even if it is just one person .
When it comes to photography
Ive always had a love for photography, but never felt like I was able to pursue it do to my health problems . Especially do to “hand tremors “ I have due to an auto immune condition, and vision loss I have in my right eye due to glaucoma
But in 2017 when I had to cancel my trip to Disneyland due to the wild fires , and the affects the poor air quality from those fires would have on my lung disease, I decided to use the money that I saved for that trip, to buy my first “ real” camera . And it ended up being the best decision I ever made .
I absolutely fell in LOVE with photography and developed a craving to learn everything I could., and take all the pictures I could, I rarely left my house without a camera
Through that I found a passion for nature photography
Because it was something I could do no matter how bad my health was . I live in the country , with a bounty of wildlife . So all I needed was a willing driver and a good zoom lens.
And something about the stillness and peace of “waiting to capture the perfect moment “ took me away from all my current worries
At first photography was just a “personal hobby ‘ because I never felt like I had the talent to pursue it . But through the work I’ve done on social media with “ The Life of Me Smile Magee” II got the guts to start sharing my photos on instagram and Facebook ( @meganmarjoriephotography) and people began to ask if I sold my photos as prints . I was in utter shock when people began to ask , BUT from the moment that question was answered prints became available .
Then I had to dive into the business side of photography ( which Is something I am still trying to figure out, but enjoying the process). I have currently been on a bit of a hiatus from my photography due to desperately needing cataract surgery ( vision loss and photography is a tricky combination to say the least )
But my proudest moments in my photography have been , Having a piece on display for a year in a traveling show with Utahs Hogle Zoo, Seeing my artwork displayed in peoples homes, and in local businesses, and this year, even with severe cataracts , and in the midst of a severe auto immune flare I photographed my first wedding .
I don’t count myself a “business’ because money has absolutely no part on why I started to do this. But I feel absolutely blessed and privileged to have the opportunity and the ability to share what im passionate about, and in that journey have gained the most amazing community
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
The goal driving my creative journey is to not have anyone who fights chronic illnesses / chronic pain/ chronic disease ever feel alone In what they. go through .
And to change Society views that llness and those who endure it as something tragic, something that needs to be pitied .
I strive to live by the words of one of my personal heroes Claire Wineland ( who lived with cystic fibrosis and died at the age of 21 from a stroke soon after her double lung transplant surgery )
“Death is Inevitable. Living a life we can be proud of is something we can control.”
Even when you are sick you can live a life full of success and chase you dreams , even when you are chronically in pain , your life can be filled with so much joy,
Just because chronic illness ( or life in general ) can feel quite lonely, doesn’t mean you have to face your struggles alone
And Just because your body is weak, it doest mean that you are .
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
My story has been built on. A foundation of resilience .
From Drs at renowned hosptials telling me to “ Go home and enjoy what life and quality of life I have left ‘
Graduating highschool by the skin of my teeth after being so sick I missed 1 1/2 years of school due to illness and had to complete ‘packets’ which were designed for our local prisoners to get their GED in order to graduate ( Im proud to say a graduated in the middle of my class GPA wise)
To being diagnosed with a rare cancer
Being diagnosed with a severe immune deficiency one month before a world wide pandemic
Learning photography, how to play the uke, and photo/ video editing with severe hand tremors, chronic pain, and vision loss
Continuing to write even though at points in my life my hands where to swollen to hold a pencil .
( when my inflamtion was at its worst my brother gifted me an iPad so I could continue to write and to this day its still one of the most meaningful gifts I have ever received )
After a lifetime of hiding my illness , Facing the almost crippling fear of leaving my house wearing supplemental oxygen when at age 23 my lungs began to fail
I can’t remember a time in my life where I haven’t experienced pain or discomfort. But through that I’ve learned that area of “ discomfort “ is truly where we grow .
Since a child I was always taught that “ The world isn’t going to adapt to my needs, so I have to adapt and find ways I can physically do things so I can “adapt to the world
Im so grateful I was raised with that perspective because it gave me the knowledge and desire to know that the only thing that can stop me, is me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/thelifeofmesmilemagee
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelifeofmesmilemagee/.
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meganmarjoriephotography
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9z9AqRtzBxCpzZnRtFMcng/about
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/thelifeofmesmilemagee/. https://www.instagram.com/meganmarjoriephotography/?igshid=NjY2NjE5MzQ%3D
Image Credits
I took all of the photos