I’M NOT DISORDERED X ELI GARDNER | READ A BOOK DAY 2026

“This book is for anyone who has loved and lost an animal... Let me help you to find them again, through this story.”

Eli Gardner

At the end of July, my pet bereavement project (Gracie’s Way) received a follow on the project’s Instagram (@GraciesWayUK) from indie Author; Eli Gardner, I decided to check out her profile (@abrakadabraink). When I discovered she had written a book which included discussion of the topic pet bereavement and that she uses her book sales to fund animal rescue, I immediately DM’d her to say thanks and then asked if she’d like to collaborate. I give some brief descriptions of Gracie’s Way, and I’m NOT Disordered and offered to put together a proper collaboration pitch if she was interested, but she actually agreed to the collaboration without me doing so! In our talks to determine exactly what shape the collaboration would take, Eli very kindly gifted me a personalised copy of the book as well as sending a lot more copies with the plan of running a giveaway on both I’m NOT Disordered and Gracie’s Way! So, the plan for this blog post – for Read A Book Day 2026 – is that I’m going to chat through my favourite bits/quotes from Eli’s book; It’s A Wonderful Afterlife and then this will be followed with a Q&A with Eli, and then the methods for entering the giveaway...

A POEM TO WISH MY ELDEST (LUNA) A VERY HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY!!!

“I feel like a part of my soul has loved you since the beginning of everything. Maybe we’re from the same star.”

Emery Allen

A HUGE GUIDE TO THE FOUR IMPACTS PET BEREAVEMENT HAS ON YOUR MENTAL HEALTH | IN COLLABORATION WITH PAWFECT PICCIES | NATIONAL GRIEF AWARENESS DAY 2026

35% Discount Code: IMNOTDISORDERED or use the link below to have it automatically applied to your basket: 

https://pawfectpiccies.etsy.com?coupon=IMNOTDISORDERED

PawfectPiccies - Etsy UK

@PawfectPiccies on Instagram

Pawfect Piccies on Facebook

“Legacy is not leaving something for people. It's leaving something in people.”

Peter Strople

A little while ago, I published a short Q&A about my upcoming – at that time – appearance on BBC Radio Newcastle (you can read the blog post: A SHORT Q&A ABOUT MY UPCOMING RADIO APPEARANCE | I'm NOT Disordered) but something I didn’t mention was the efforts I was going to in order to decide what to wear for it. And I realise it sounds strange to care about my outfit when it’s a radio appearance(!), but I knew there’d be photos being taken for both my social media and for theirs too. So, I knew I wanted something special rather than just another jumper and it was whilst I was on Instagram, that I saw an advert for a company adding pet photos to clothing and inspired by the ad, I ended up finding Pawfect Piccies on Etsy. To find out about my BBC appearance (which you can listen to on my YouTube channel: youtube.com/@aimes_wilson/videos), why it became the ultimate illustration of encouraging talk about pet bereavement because of the recognition of the positive impact that can have on your mental health, and for more details on the collaboration side of this blog post with Pawfect Piccies and photos of my t-shirt from their store (you can purchase the exact same one: Custom Pet T-shirt Dog Drawing From Photo Portrait T-shirt Personalized Dog Pullover Custom Cat T-shirt Dog Mum Gift Dog Lover Shirt - Etsy UK and use the discount code IMNOTDISORDERED at the checkout for 35% off the final cost of your Pawfect Piccies haul!), keep reading…

AN EXCLUSIVE LOOK BEHIND-THE-SCENES OF ALL MY COLLABORATIONS WITH CATS PROTECTION | INCLUDING A FUNDRAISER FROM MY BEST-FRIEND, CATS PROTECTION VOLUNTEER TEAM LEADER; JACK WILSON

Donate: Jack’s Fundraiser for Cat
s Protection – Newcastle Inflatable 5k

“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.”

Albert Einstein

A little while ago, one of my best-friend's; Jack announced that he’s taking part in the Newcastle Inflatable 5k (which you can read about on ukrunningevents.co.uk) to raise money for the charity he volunteers with: Cats Protection. Since Jack actually started volunteering there after I took him and his husband; Spencer to the Summer Open Day 2025 event at the Adoption Centre as part of one of my many collaborations with the UK’s largest feline welfare charity and I introduced him to Volunteer Manager; Michelle (you can read the blog post from that: The Ultimate Guide to Networking). To help share the donation link for Jack’s fundraising, I’ve put this post together where I’m going to provide a bit of an inside look of all my previous collaborations with Cats Protection, and there’s also a little bit from Jack coming up next...

HOW AUTHENTICITY HELPED ME TO GAIN INFLUENCE | FEATURING PHOTOS & VIDEOS OF THE VISIT | IN COLLABORATION WITH NORTHUMBERLAND ZOO

https://www.northumberlandzoo.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/NorthumberlandZoo/

https://www.instagram.com/northumberlandzoo

“The best times we’ve had on Earth, are usually with those we love.”

Van Harden

Something my Mum has massively instilled in me with my career as an Influencer for a long time now, has been ‘shy bairns get nowt.’ So, when I was told my Niece; Erynn, who lives in Scotland, was visiting my Mum and Step-Dad for four days and they invited me to go to Northumberland Zoo, I thought about what I might be able to do to make the trip a little bit more special. So, I called the Zoo and ended up speaking to the lovely Maxine who, in exchange for featuring on I’m NOT Disordered and my social media, offered us all complimentary entry passes! I was so excited to tell the three of them that I called them straight away when really, I ended up wishing I’d held it in longer and told them on the way there so that I could see their faces! Everyone was obviously really happy and very grateful, and I found myself filled with a sense of pride that I hadn’t experienced before. A pride that I have the type of influence that means I can do really nice things for my loved ones. So, I decided to use this blog post – that will feature my photos and videos from the Zoo – to also discuss how I’ve managed to use authenticity to build and gain this level of influence, what it means to me, why it matters to me, and how it feels to be able to use it in a way that benefits those who mean the most to me...