Celebrating NAIP Launch Week & Creating Through Chronic Illness with Alaina Moore of Tennis (Ep 087)
What does it take to keep creating when your body is struggling? How do you continue making meaningful work while navigating uncertainty, limitations, and chronic illness in real time?
In this special episode of the Autoimmune Wellness Podcast, Mickey Trescott celebrates the launch of The New Autoimmune Protocol with a deeply personal conversation featuring her longtime friend Alaina Moore—vocalist and songwriter of the indie band Tennis.
Instead of interviewing a guest, Mickey takes the guest seat herself as Alaina turns the tables to explore the creative process behind the new book, the realities of creating while chronically ill, and the surprising overlap between art, music, food, and healing.
Together, they discuss what it means to pursue creative work while managing chronic illness, how illness can shape identity and perspective, and why adapting to changing capacity is often part of the process. Alaina also shares her experience navigating dysphonia while recording and touring, while Mickey reflects on photographing The New Autoimmune Protocol during a severe autoimmune eye flare.
This conversation is honest, funny, emotional, and deeply relatable for anyone who has tried to keep showing up for meaningful work while living in a body that doesn’t always cooperate.
In this episode, you’ll learn:- How chronic illness can shape creativity, identity, and artistic work
- Why adapting to limitations is often part of the creative process
- The similarities between songwriting, recipe development, and visual storytelling
- How Mickey approaches recipe development, writing, and cookbook photography
- Why creative work often requires both structure and chaos
- How sensory imagination influences both music and cooking
- Alaina Moore’s experience recovering from dysphonia while touring with Tennis
- Mickey’s experience photographing a cookbook during an autoimmune eye flare
- Why accepting chronic illness can feel freeing instead of limiting
- The emotional impact of medical gaslighting and delayed diagnosis
- How creativity, music, and art can help people move through illness
- Why managing chronic illness is different from “overcoming” it
Resources:
Alaina Moore & Tennis
- Website: https://tennis-music.com
- Instagram: @tennisinc
- Playlist mentioned in the episode: Available here!
Mickey Trescott
Episode Timeline:
00:00 – Introduction and NAIP launch week reflections
01:31 – Introducing Alaina Moore of Tennis
04:37 – Artists, chronic illness, and creative resilience
07:08 – Mickey’s writing and recipe development process
13:31 – Alaina’s songwriting process and creative structure
18:11 – Music, taste, and sensory imagination
25:07 – How Mickey perfects recipes
30:17 – Why Mickey shares her work publicly
32:56 – Creative breakthroughs and photographing the new book
39:02 – Alaina’s experience with dysphonia and vocal rehabilitation
44:11 – Accepting chronic illness and redefining healing
51:14 – Wrap-up and closing reflections