Starting a Community

Reading through the posts on forums like reddit for disability makes me feel like I'm less isolated from the rest of the world. To hear stories of similar and different struggles helps myself figure out my own. This is what I am trying to accomplish with my blog. To create a community of people sharing their stories/experiences with the rest of the community so we can all grow as a whole. I have been writing on and off for about 8 years now and it has given so much back to me in form of support and freedom. To think that my writing could help just one person is amazing.

This year I have started up a brand new community to help share stories with bloggers with disabilities. I hope to reach out to all other bloggers and bring them together. This way the writers can obtain more exposure for their writing. The best way to bring your blog up is to bring other's along with you.

I also have a Facebook page that I had started years ago. This group so far has over 100 likes and counting! The feedback has been incredible and I am excited to see what this year will bring to my communities. Please feel free to join at the link below!

Link to reddit community forum:

https://www.reddit.com/r/disABLEd_bloggers/

Link to Facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/disABLEdguy/

Happy New Year!

Figuring out what you want in life can be the most difficult task ever faced by anybody. Whether it's to do with your career or another life choice decisions can be vague and confusing. Stuff that seems or is simple can become daunting. Asking yourself questions like: is this what I want to be doing for a period of my life? Can I support myself with this? Will I be happy and have the ability to wilfully get out of bed every mourning and look forward to another day on the job? This has been my dilemma for almost ten years.

My goals include owning a company that I had started. Two of the fields that I have been looking into are food and technology. For the food part I think a fry truck would be a neat idea. I love working with food. Trying to find better methods and ingredients to make the best dish possible. I always have a feeling that I can make something taste better. The technology field I have over fifteen years of experience. One hobby I enjoy is fixing computers and gadgets.

Another goal that I gave been working towards is obtaining my driver's license. I have over the last five years been looking into something called “van life”. What I find the most appealing about this is the freedom of having the ability to pick up and go somewhere else easily. Customization also seems like it would be fun for me to play around with. To make the entire space that I would be living in my own way.

This is the beginning of a new year. School is going to be a huge stepping stone for me. I hopefully will be starting my own business within the next year or so. That has been a goal of mine for some time now.

I want to thank all of my readers for sticking around my blog for this long and hopefully into the future! Writing has always been a passion of mine. Sharing my experiences and heating other's has been very eye-opening to me/others. I wish everyone luck in the new year and hope to hear from you soon.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!

Update 2019

Merry Christmas!

Well, it's close to the end of the year again and so much has happened! First of all school was and is a huge start for me that will continue on into the new year. So far as difficult and overwhelming the program is it's find that it's very interesting and rewarding. I'm almost half way through the course and I am loving it.

Another thing that had happened this year was my little sister's video that MADD had posted on their YouTube channel. She has been through so much and has far to go but is pushing through it one day at a time. It has been over four years since the incident had occurred.

I have big plans for the future of the brand new 20s. First involves finishing school and second involves my co-op that will help me gain actual work experience in my chosen field of being a future paralegal. I can also see getting my own place to live in the nearby future. It has been sometime since I had something like this to look forward to. Starting school again for the third time as been extremely stressful to say the least. I had to change my way of thinking as well as my habits to coincide with my studies.

My sister's video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cihvN92W3LU&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR0ntpENRiuwE41EtV7pKHE8Z-bAlGZJEdYmaJcf1Ub_op2aDt-CVbyn_Hw

Realizations About Society

As I find myself becoming older and more mature that the world around me is changing as well. Not just in the sense that everyone else’s perspective but my own. Going out in public had in the past been a huge fear for me. I thought that most people would treat me poorly or even badly. That random strangers would try to take advantage of me. Although it has happened n the past it wasn’t as often as I thought it would be. Now I’m not saying that everyone is perfect/kind but not everyone is out to get you.

Through working or going to school throughout the last couple of years has really opened my eyes to what is possible while being “out” in this world. That people are not what they appear to be (mostly, with exception) and not as nasty as some are portrayed in the social media/opinions of others. I have met some very kind people while being out and about in public.

Unfortunately, I have also found that there are many people who think that they are above someone due to being more “physically or mentally” stronger than someone that has some issues in those categories. What I do not enjoy about this is the way it makes someone feel imperfect or unworthy because they are not as able bodied. This being said, when other’s treat someone lesser because they’re not as able-bodied as them that they are somehow weaker or insignificant in comparison.

This is on of the reasons for starting my blog in the first place. To bring an understanding to the public society that being disabled is not a weakness but merely a slight disadvantage. That having a disability doesn’t mean that you are completely handicapped. There may be some ways but, in most cases, not all together.

I want to thank my readers for making it this far on my journey in life through my blog. I can’t believe that it has been over ten years since I had started my blog! I hope to be writing a lot more in the new years than the previous couple that I was not as active as I should of been. Hopefully my skills in writing will help me in my present and future courses in my post-secondary adventure! Thanks for reading and have a good one!

Coming back!

I do apologize for my absence to my blog and my followers. I have recently enrolled myself back into post-secondary school to further my career and life goals. At this time I have been studying in a highly intense Paralegal law program with a local college in my area. It is really fun but a LOT of work.

I love writing and hearing from my readers on how much they loved my blog or that it had helped them in some sort of way. That was the main reason for starting my blog. Without a community it’s more difficult to find help or even some sort of assurance. I want to bring people together to help others understand and breach negativity towards anyone that is deemed “different” or not. In the end we are all people, human beings, and we should be treated and act the same towards another.

One of my reasons for entering into this intensive program was to help any injustice when it comes to being disabled. For example, not getting a job or a reasonable answer for why that is the case. Most companies should be held accountable for keeping their accommodations in check. I also think that first impressions of an apparently disabled person is not just cause for doubting their abilities to complete the tasks specified. Everyone deserves their fair chance in life to prove themselves and others that they are worthy.

One of my biggest pet-peeves out there is when it comes to other people doubting my abilities due to my physical disability. I have worked very hard to self sustain my life in a way that is easier for me. Well, for the most part that is.

My plan now includes making a Patreon page to help keep this blog running and it’s content fresh! I know that asking for support has never been my strong suit but as I age and become wiser I can see that there is not one person on this earth that does not require help from someone else.

Gardening with Cerebral Palsy -- Part 2

It has been a little over a month since my last update on my indoor garden. So far my habanero plant has doubled in size and has started to flower. I have also added lettuce to the grow tent that will be added to my garden outside in a few more weeks when they have had more time to grow. This will ensure less competition for the plant to grow to its full potential. At the end of the month I will most likely need to construct a much larger grow box for my plants. I’m hoping that this small hobby of mine will continue to grow and turn into something more down the line.

Gardening with Cerebral Palsy -- Part 1

Having a physical disability can sometimes make even the simplest tasks difficult. This is why I’m always looking for hobbies that suit my lifestyle and abilities. One of these hobbies that I am currently looking into is gardening. I have two types of garden styles at this moment. One is a small garden I had made in my backyard. This one has my hot peppers, tomatoes, lemon grass (for the mosquitoes), pumpkin and basil.

The other is a small diy grow box that I had made myself. All it takes to build is 5 sheets of foam board, one grow light (Amazon), a large pot, small piece of foam board to cover top of the pot (hole in the middle for the plant to sit in), and a plant. Once your plant is suspended in the pot from the hole fill it with water until it either touches to bottom of the cup the plant is in or until its roots are slightly in the water. Every week check on the water levels to see if the plant requires more. Make sure to leave space as it grows from the top so you don’t drown your plant. Plus there's always the rewarding part of watching your plants grow and start producing whatever it’s growing.

Stress

Stress is everywhere. Hiding in plain sight or lurking around the corner to jump out at you. Different people handle stress in various methods of coping. One of the major causes of stress or anxiety for myself would be overthinking. To consistently think of a problem over and over again until you blow it up out of proportion. When I find that I am feeling this way I tend to try to focus on something else. One of my go-to strategies is video games. Completing tasks while sitting where I'm very comfortable keeps my mind busy and out of the dark.


What are your strategies for coping with stress?

My View on Society Later in Life

As the years go on I seem to be slowly learning about how society actually works around different types of people. People come in all shapes and sizes but not just in a physical sense. My understanding before venturing out often in the world was that I'd face more ridicule and ignorance. And yes I have faced an unfortunate amount of that but not as much as I had previously thought. For the most part I have found that there are generally two types of people. One that tries to put one foot forward and one that tries to pull someone back. I strive to be the first and hope that others follow suite.

Update 2019

Getting back into a regular schedule of your previous times due to lack of concentration/motivation. Into a normal comfortable routine that helps guide you forward. Starting something new can be all too easy these days but sticking to them is difficult as ever. I've had some setbacks over the last few years. I lost my part time job, most of my friends and have been struggling with finding motivation to move forward.

One thing I can say for sure is not to dwell on the past. Ya, I know an overused cliche but to me it makes perfect sense. Leave that pit at the bottom of your stomach alone and try focusing on something positive. One thing I'm going to work on is getting my blog back on track! I think that I had spent enough time off.