A Wheelchair View

"The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any." -  Alice Walker A couple of weeks ago I threw down that I was getting off the system. I made this declaration out of not only frustration from being disregarded by the healthcare system, but also the financial fragility of my life in general. I want to offer up my experience, my dreams, my passion in the hopes that I can help people in similar situations. Can I be honest? I have been wrestling with all of this for years. Who am I? Uh, well, uh, I am a disabled photographer who also draws and writes and has education in sociology and psychology. I also have help desk experience and built a database and website out of code. Might I mention I am an expert at being disabled, having 49 years of experience. This has given me many years in health and diet and exercise and over all fitness. Maneuvering my wheelchair has given me spacial relations skills, I also have public relation skills ...

It was a moment that I will never forget. I spotted her in the back of Saint Stephen's Cemetery in Hamilton,Ohio. A cement angel, standing on a pillar clutching a cross, and her head bowed as if reflecting on the passed life who lay beneath her. The air was crisp and cold and gusts of a breeze seemed to be telling secrets to the trees. I was rolling over shriveled leaves so dry they popped and crackled under the wheels of my wheelchair. I hate the cold with a passion and my body wanted hot chocolate and warm blankets, But like a siren she beckoned me to her. My fingers were so frozen my Nikon D70 felt more like a brick. The scene before me just wouldn't let me escape one more shot. She insisted. So I continued my way several yards to get into range of my 200mm lens. The seasons first flakes floated down around her and a breeze carrying a mixture of leaves and the newly fallen feathers of snow swirled around this beautiful angel. I was consumed with emotions of the moment, cho...

This was part of a Picasso contest and was taken in window light. My subject Jonah Rogers was a real pro and made the project a lot of fun.

Fear is a Liar I've had it! I spent 3 years waiting for a wheelchair after mine broke down. I have decided I am not going to live this way anymore. I am going to get off the system and become self sustainable. I realize I am 50 and I should probably just collect my checks and enjoy my medicare/medicaid that pays for just about all my medical expenses. But there are so many conditions and rules and I am not receiving the right things to give me the most optimal ability for my body. I just received the wheelchair that THEY wanted me to have and if I want the chair that best works for my body, I am going to have to get it myself! Ok. Challenge accepted! Since turning 50, I have been thinking hard about what I want to do for the rest of my life. I have chased entrepreneurship my whole adult life and have failed many times and got back up and went at it again. It is the only life for me though. I am way too driven and full of inspiration to just sit idle and eat vegan mac and...