A Wheelchair View

You can tuck all your dreams away in a box and hide it in a cluttered room. But in the attic, in the corner, under mounds of books, clothes, toys and cobwebs; that crushed, faded, mangled and torn box of dreams will find a way to haunt you. The spirit of that box will sneak up behind you through the years and whisper in your ear. Words like “I wish I could” or “if only” will echo into the void and return with “I should have,” and “why didn't I?”  In to Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee’s character Atticus Finch says, “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” This kind of courage is the act of faith and determination, it is not about winning in the end, it is about not going down without a fight. After all regrets come stronger in the things that we did not do or try, then the things we did and...

I started the Dr. Oz's Reparative Or 'Ex-Gay' Episode and couldn't bear to watch anymore of it after 10 minutes. It reminded me so much of a society who believes that my life would be so much better if I was not disabled so they try to "fix me" through therapy, surgery, and the worst one of all, faith healing. This stigma comes from small minds who are clinging to their cookie cutter magazine perfect world and anything beyond the mediocrity just has to be "fixed." After all we don't want to mess with the perfect body fantasy. Never mind that if we have a creator who does not make mistakes created people of all shapes, sizes, colors, abilities and yes, orientation; we are simply telling God how to do "his" job. We are robbing ourselves of the treasures of our diversities and the lessons we can learn from them all because we want to hold on to a idea that is just that, an idea. What if, my disability could be put into the background of wh...