[BlindTlk] For Raymond / If You Want To Survive COVID-19 Lockdown, Learn From The Disabled

Sat Apr 4 20:19:15 UTC 2020

Raymond,

Your writing was deeply touching to me.  Thank you for your vulnerable honesty.  It was a worthwhile perspective that is worth reading.

Peter

Connecting With the Wisdom of the Earth
Executive & individual coaching, consultation, and nature-based facilitation
www. Wolf Leadership Institute . com
707. 829 - 0776

> On Apr 4, 2020, at 6:31 AM, Eric Calhoun via BlindTlk <blindtlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Your thoughts on this article?  Stay encouraged, y'all!
> 
> 
> Original Message: 
> From: "isis feral isisferal at yahoo.com [berkeley-disabled]"
> <berkeley-disabled-noreply at yahoogroups.com>
> To: Bay Canary Grapevine <baycanarygrapevine at googlegroups.com>,
> Berkeley-Disabled <berkeley-disabled at yahoogroups.com>,
> "emfrefugee at groups.io" <emfrefugee at groups.io>
> Subject: [berkeley-disabled] If You Want To Survive COVID-19 Lockdown,
> Learn From The Disabled
> Date: 
> Sat, 4 Apr 2020 07:24:06 +0000 (UTC)
> 
> https://folks.pillpack.com/if-you-want-to-survive-covid-19-lockdown-learn-fr
> om-the-disabled/
> 
> 
> If You Want To Survive COVID-19 Lockdown, Learn From The Disabled  
> 
> Frustrated by endless weeks of self-quarantine due to coronavirus?
> Welcome to the world of chronic illness and disability. And after all this
> is over, remember us.
> Angie Ebba - March 30
> 
> 
> One of the things you hear a lot as a disabled person is: "You're so
> lucky not to get to stay home and to go to the office every day!" As if not
> being able to leave the house because of a debilitating health condition is
> some sort of vacation.
> 
> Well, three weeks into shelter-in-place and state lockdown orders due to
> the global COVID-19 pandemic, when almost anyone who is able to do so is
> working from home and millions more are suddenly unemployed: how lucky do
> you feel? It's not a blessing or a privilege not to be able to go to work
> or socialize with other people, is it?
> No. Self-quarantine-whether from coronavirus, or because you literally
> are too sick to go out- is boring, lonely, isolating, and destructive to
> your mental health.
> It was early 2014 when I began getting really sick with symptoms like
> debilitating muscle spasms, severe pain, and chronic fatigue that kept me
> bed-bound. Doctors didn't know what was going on, and neither did I. All I
> knew was that I'd gone from successfully navigating full-time work,
> graduate school, and the parenting of two young children, to barely being
> able to dress myself or move from my bed to the couch. 
> And yet, I still heard it: "Wow, what I'd give to get to stay at home in
> my pajamas each day!"
> As the years progressed, I got my diagnoses, including: ankylosing
> spondylitis, chronic migraine, fibromyalgia, and psychogenic non-epileptic
> seizures.. It took me years of doctors, treatments, and therapies to move
> from a place of being perpetually bed-bound to being able to leave the
> house. But even now, while I'm doing a lot better physically than I was
> five years ago, I still have multiple days every month that I spend in bed
> due to my symptoms, and even more days each month that I don't leave the
> house because of them.
> Now, suddenly, it feels like most of the world understands what I've been
> going through all these years. In the last few weeks as the pandemic has
> spread and "stay at home" orders have tightened, adults who maybe have
> never had more than a 3-day weekend at home are finding themselves cooped
> up in their house for weeks, with weeks more ahead of them. And my social
> feeds have filled up with tips from non-disabled friends on how to
> 'survive' this time of isolation.
> There's a part of me that is angry at all this. I want to snark: "But I
> thought I was lucky I get to stay home because of my chronic illness?"
> There is a stirring of anger that I didn't expect. But I empathize too. I
> remember what it was like when I was newly disabled: how the days would all
> blend together, how I mourned the presence of my friends, how desperately I
> wanted to go out dancing or to have a meal. I remember those days I'd read
> and binge Netflix for hours, eat way too much, called everyone I knew, and
> still exhausted all possible ways of entertaining myself before the day was
> even half-done. The transition from being a participating member of society
> to being stuck at home with little connection to the outside world is hard,
> scary, and lonely for everyone.
> And so I empathize with those who are learning for the first time what it
> is like to be stuck at home with limited options and very little connection
> to the outside world. That transition is hard, and scary, and can be really
> lonely.
> To those able-bodied individuals reading this who may be struggling with
> this new norm of being home, I'd suggest this is a time to learn from the
> chronically ill and disabled people whose experience you have been
> knowingly or unwittingly discounting all these days. Here's some of my own
> tips:
> Use technology to your advantage. Connect with peers on social media,
> form group chats with your work buddies, and organize video calls for
> virtual drinks with your friends. Now that everyone-not just disabled
> people-need accessible ways to meet via technology, the landscape is
> changing fast. You can participate in dance classes via Facebook Live, or
> listen to the symphony streamed to you. Take advantage of these
> opportunities to stay connected. If you're not as tech-savvy or prefer not
> to use social media, call up a friend on the phone and read to each other,
> or talk about a favorite TV show. 
> Rest. Seriously. It's okay to rest. We are expected and socialized to be
> go-go-go constantly, our value measured by our productivity. But this just
> simply isn't true; our value comes from places much deeper than that, and
> accomplishment in life is a lot more than checking things off on a to-do
> list. This is a stressful time for a multitude of reasons, and that impacts
> your health. Listen to your body and allow yourself to rest. 
> Discover your joy. Use this time to find new passions or to re-discover
> old ones. Dig out those paints that have been in the back of the closet for
> years and find some YouTube tutorials to teach you to use them. Google new
> recipes to use for the plethora of beans you now have. Learn a new
> language. All those things you have been saying that you wish you had time
> to do? Now you do. 
> These are just some examples. The point is deeper than that, though.
> Learn from us disabled folks and what we have been doing. And then, please,
> remember us. When things go back to 'normal' and people can again go to
> work, leave their houses, attend big concerts, meet up for dinner or
> drinks,-remember us. 
> 
> Remember that for many of us, social distancing and self-quarantine might
> never really end. Remember what a pain it was to have groceries delivered,
> and offer to grab a few things for a disabled friend the next time you're
> out shopping Remember how much fun you had in those Facebook Live dance
> classes, and email the instructor encouraging them to continue doing them
> after the shelter-in-place orders are lifted. When you're at the art store
> ,grab some fun new supplies for a chronically ill family member because you
> have experienced first-hand how boring life at home can be. 
> When this quarantine ends for you, we will still be living it. As you
> move about the world freely, remember us. Remember that we are still here,
> we need you as allies, and we'd love to hang out with you via video chat
> and share coffee with you.
> 
> 
> 
> -------
> Sent from my hardwired computer with all wireless functions turned OFF
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