What singing taught me about life with MS
It is hard to explain the following depth of reality. One morning shortly after my diagnosis, I woke up and thought, “From now on, I will wake up sick every day, and I need to accept that I will never get better again - unless a cure is found.” That level of new normals isn’t easy. Then again, finding something black to wear while standing in front of a wardrobe filled with black clothes only, isn’t either. The same goes for the many pairs of black shoes, black rings, and necklaces.
Why I love advocacy!
No matter when you were diagnosed, there might be moments when you feel like screaming at the top of your lungs when symptoms take a little too long to disappear, or because people are just getting on your nerves.
UNCRPD in Ireland – begging for change
Over the years, many extraordinary, inspiring people with disabilities have shown how they have rocked the world in their unique way. What the likes of Trump might regard as incompetence, I have seen extremely able, courageous people who have raised the bar not only for themselves but for others as well. They are living proof that having a disability is not the end of the road. There is, in fact, a whole world ahead of you. It might be good to remember these strong words from Michelle Obama, “When they go low, we go high.”
disABILITY
© Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me, 2011-2016. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner are strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
#strongerthanms with MS Ireland
“So, how’s the book,” friends often ask me. “Oh, it’s getting there,” I joke. “I’ve finished one page, the one with the title and my name!” I don’t lack the ambition to keep on writing, but I have an overabundance of low energy levels, so I must ask people to use their patience… patiently when dealing with me. Like all cowards, the illness I write about lurks in the dark within my central nervous system, and it sometimes rises to the surface in unflattering ways. My body does a good job in concealing it for now, but every so often I worry about it rising to the surface and staying there… permanently.
