Rachel Miner Instagram – What I’m most grateful for in 2023 is the incredible amount my close friends stepped in to pull me through a very difficult year. At times I didn’t know if I’d make it but here I am happier and full of more love and gratitude than ever, for fiercely independent me had to learn her profound indebtedness to others .
One of my biggest aims for 2024 is to connect with others in the most honest, vulnerable and authentic ways I can.
I’m incredibly grateful for the people I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by who accept me fully as a disabled woman, but I cannot pretend that the world at large is accepting or mindful when it comes to disability. Every day of my existence is rife with examples of how far from understanding of the disability experience this society is and this troubles me deeply as I know how many others are experiencing difficulties due to the general lack of awareness extant in the world in regard to disability.
For this reason I no longer like the phrase “don’t let your disability define you” it is problematic to me, as if my naming and claiming that I’m disabled will alter the the number of obstructions, obstacles and judgments those of us with disabilities run into in the world. My disability will be with me wherever I go, so the truth underlying the phrase too often feels more like “please maintain the illusion of acceptability and normalcy and don’t make us have to confront your disability”. I get it this disability journey can be scary and uncomfortable and sad, but I’d love to share with you that it can also be expanding, empowering and enlightening. So rather then attempting to keep up any illusion that my life looks like whatever normal is to another, I’d prefer to work toward creating a society that embraces disability and the diversity of human experience to the degree that we are each able to live authentically and freely without others questioning the value of our existence.
In other words being a disabled woman is one of the myriad ways you can define and identify me. I hope that by freely and honestly sharing my experience I do my part in carving out a bit more space for you to do the same. #Disability | Posted on 01/Jan/2024 01:59:03
