Ask Me Anything

I've been thinking a lot recently about how people tend to talk the least about the things that are closest to their hearts. And most of the time it's because we're afraid. Afraid of being vulnerable, afraid of being judged, afraid that if we say or ask something out loud that it automatically carries more weight because it's no longer only in our brain. But it's often the times that we are most vulnerable and most open that we connect. We find people who have felt or experienced something similar, or we open someone's eyes to something that had never occurred to them before. How can we ever expect to connect, relate, and grow if we are afraid to share?

The older I get, the more I realize that I want to share my life with people. I want to be known by the people around me. I don't want to go through life in the shadows. I want the things I experience to help people learn and grow and not feel alone, whether the experience be related to having a disability, losing a loved one, being single, or whatever. Whatever it is-- if any of my life experiences could help someone in even a small way, then I will consider that experience well worth it.

So, where do I go from here? Three of the things I struggle with most are 1) when people assume I can't do something without asking me first, 2) people who feel sorry for me, and 3) the look I see on someone's face when I know they want to ask me a question but they are too afraid. I'm not really sure why our society carries the idea that disability is something to shy away from. We all have disabilities of some kind or another, it's just that some are more apparent to the naked eye than others.

 So I'm starting the conversation with this: if you have a question, post it in the comments below (particularly something you've always wanted to ask someone who has a disability). Of course I can only speak from my own experience, but that will have to be enough for now.