From MS to a creative rebirth

She was diagnosed with the disease, which attacks one’s central nervous system, affecting both her physical movement and cognitive ability, in 2018.

Since, it’s taken from her large parts of her identity.

But she didn’t want the disease to define her.

So, she pivoted.

“It’s a chronic illness, there’s no cure, so you either lay there and do nothing, or you dig your boots in and go, well, I’ve got to do something,” she said.

As long as Marli can remember, she’s been creative.

After she was forced to medically retire from a media role due to her condition, she established Marli Kelly Designs and now pours her energy into arts and crafts, sharing her passion with others through various workshops.

“There’s many ways that I reinvented myself from words and media,” she said.

“I did a wreath workshop before Christmas and this beautiful man pulled me aside ... he told me he had stage four cancer and he hadn’t told others yet, but he said he felt like he should tell me and he said, ‘I was meant to meet you today,’ and we both cried.

“I've had people tell me incredible things and they say, ‘I've never told anyone that,’ and I think that's because it gives them a chance to feel their own vulnerability.”

It’s those connections that push Marli out of her comfort zone to talk at public events, even as her condition continues dishing out new challenges.

“I didn’t think that I necessarily would come and talk just because I was feeling so vulnerable (after a recent life-changing emergency procedure), but I think that’s when you should talk, you know, and let people know that even in your vulnerable moments you can have something to say,” she said.

“We'll all get bitten by something, you know, it could be financial, it could be health, it could be sickness, you know, it could be anything, and I guess you don't know how strong you are until you have to be.”

Marli said International Women’s Day was a tribal thing for her.

“Just acknowledging what’s gone before,” she said.

“All the women ... the power of mums and women.

“There’s a quote that says the most beautiful souls are those who walked out of the fire then returned with water for those still in it.

“We all know someone who’s done it for us.”

Marli is one of the guest speakers at the Soroptimist International of Shepparton Inc. International Women’s Day breakfast on March 5 at the Parklake in Shepparton.