Ever since I was a young girl, I have sought out disability representation in the media, entertainment, and fashion industries. As a born performer and lover of the creative arts, these industries have always had me in a chokehold of sorts.
But more importantly, they passively inform our entire society about the things they should and should not care about at any given time of the day, month, year, decade, or century.
That might sound rather intense, but it’s 100% true.
3 years ago this week, I graduated from the University of Notre Dame with my BA in English and a minor in Business Economics
After graduating, I founded The Rolling Explorer, a blog dedicated to sharing my experiences as a disabled, young woman living in the 21st century
Let me just start off today’s blog post by saying this: It is 100% natural and valid to hate this pandemic and all the pain it’s caused around the world, but still be nervous for it to end. Post-Covid anxieties are very real and should be taken seriously. Not only do many of them highlight parts of our society’s structure that could be improved, but they also matter to several people you love and care about.
Today, I am sharing my list of post-covid anxieties as a chronically ill and disabled young woman in order to get people thinking about the ways we can ensure a return to normalcy doesn’t impede on people’s ability to live.
Last week, I had the opportunity to do something I’ve always wanted to do. On Thursday, April 1st, 2021, I spoke on a Disability Pride Panel for the Disability and Human Development Undergraduate Student Association at the University of Illinois at Chicago. It was such an incredible experience and I am very grateful to have been asked to be a part of the event.
Because this Disability Pride Panel was hosted by a student organization at UIC, attendance was not open to the public. Though I was disappointed more people didn’t have access to the wonderful dialogue taking place, the small numbers allowed more time for questions and discussion.
Since this was my first time speaking on a panel, specifically a disability pride panel, I thought it would be fruitful to share my thoughts and feelings on the event. By doing so, I hope other institutions and organizations can learn about the importance of events like this one and hopefully host their own versions in the future.
Without further ado, here are the top 4 things I learned from speaking on UIC’s Disability Pride Panel.
I received the first dose of the Pfizer Covid Vaccine last week in London, England. This blog post documents my experience. Remember, everyone will have different outcomes and nothing I say here is guaranteed to happen to you! I hope you will get vaccinated as soon as it is available to you and your demographic. Let’s end this pandemic, together.
Today’s blog post is going to get REAL personal, so buckle up. Y’all think dating is difficult? Try dating with a disability! Talk about vulnerability…
I started to read this book slowly, and quickly realized that I wanted to make it my January book of the month for 2 reasons:
1. I think talking about the ways in which my disability has impacted the way I view money is important to the wider conversation of ableism and disability.
2. Everyone deserves to feel empowered to make the money they deserve after the hellish year we have all been put through.
It has been 8 years since I’ve gotten a new prosthetic. The only reason I am looking to get a new one now is because my old socket is too big. Since January 2020, I have lost about 25-30 pounds. I sought a diagnosis for constant nausea and stomach pain for months before finally learning of a new chronic condition I possess in late July (yes, I know I haven’t talked about this on here yet, I am still processing the diagnosis and will discuss it when I am ready). The chances of me getting back to the weight I was at the beginning of the year seems highly unlikely. So, given the age of my previous prosthesis and the inability to shrink the socket down enough to fit the new circumference of my leg, it was determined that I would need an entire new limb.
As The Rolling Explorer was originally created to be an accessible travel and lifestyle blog, I would have loved to spend this month sharing my top recommended spooky tourist attractions or visiting costume shops to see how many adaptive costumes were for sale. Obviously, Covid has made posts like these impossible to create this year. So, instead, I decided to combine two of my favorite things: dressing up and advocacy!
Having a driving playlist has been essential for me in every stage of life. As a child, I would blast “Genie in a Bottle,” by Christina Aguilera and “It’s Gonna Be Me,” by NSYNC from my CD player in the backseat. When I was a bit older, I would only play songs from the community theater shows I participated in. Yes, of course, I drove my parents up the wall by singing along as loudly as I possibly could.
These days, if I am not listening to one of my favorite podcasts, I prefer to plug in my Spotify playlist, queue up some songs, and hit the road.