by Kate | Jul 10, 2021 | kind promises, Strength, Vulnerability, Weakness
We humans are a social species. We weren’t meant to survive or thrive on our own. Unfortunately, we (especially Americans) have created mythic heroes that are rugged individualists. They don’t need anybody. It’s a lonely life. Those of us who live with illness can’t...
by Kate | Mar 21, 2018 | connectedness, kind promises, Transformation, Vulnerability, Well-being
It’s spring and time for gardening metaphors. It’s snowing outside in Minneapolis and yet this feels like winter kissing us goodbye. The temperature and the soil are warming, ready to make a hospitable environment for plants. Gardeners know, though, that enriching the...
by Kate | Nov 9, 2017 | Chronic healing, chronic illness, Disability, kind promises, Love, Vulnerability
As someone with significant disabilities, I worry that I am a burden on people around me. I tell myself monster-stories about how much better the lives of my loved ones would be if they didn’t have to sacrifice on my behalf. I imagine that such thoughts are noble,...
by Kate | Sep 5, 2017 | Advocacy, Disability, kind promises, Vulnerability, Weakness
In the US of A, we value independence. We planted the idea with our revolutionary roots, nurtured it through immigrations and cowboys and have carried it into the 21st-century with our cell phones – connected and disconnected simultaneously. The urge to go it alone is...
by Kate | May 25, 2016 | Chronic healing, chronic illness, Disability, kind promises, monsters, Vulnerability, Weakness
My friend Al, who has multiple sclerosis, went to his physician with some troublesome new symptoms. “Am I feeling this way because I’m aging or is it the MS?” he asked. “Yes,” replied the doctor. Lately, my disability due to MS has increased significantly. I need help...
by Kate | May 17, 2016 | Vulnerability, Weakness
You mistakenly imagine that big bold swaths of movement make a life Believing that you look back and failing to see adventure you lose heart Please remember the little steps you took each day murmuring softly There was a day you skipped with joy your heart was light...
