discrimination – Walk a Myelin* My Shoes

The mechanic wouldn’t listen. Something was wrong with Norman, but he refused to hear that it might be the battery. My university stuff was crammed in the back seat, on top of the battery. My dad drove 7 hours through the Rockies the next day, we emptied the back seat, and Norman started right up. What would I know, though? I’m just a woman!

Characters: 280

This is the first time I’ve participated in Twittering Tales and it was really fun. The picture immediately brought to mind this memory and after some tweaking, I was thrilled to get it to 280 characters exactly. Oh, and thanks, Dad! 😊

Here are the rules:

https://katmyrman.com/2019/07/02/twittering-tales-143-2-july-2019/

Instructions per Kat:

“About the challenge: Each Tuesday I will provide a photo prompt. Your mission, if you choose to accept the challenge, is to tell a story in 280 characters or less. When you write your tale, be sure to let me know in the comments with a link to your tale. This is important as I have noticed that some of the ping backs have not been working. If you would prefer to post your tale in the comments (some people have very specific blog themes but still want to participate), I am happy to post a link to your site when I post your tale in the Round Up.

A final note: if you need help tracking the number of characters in your story, there is a nifty online tool that will count for you at charactercountonline.com.

I will do a roundup each Tuesday, along with providing a new prompt. And if for some reason I missed your entry in the Roundup, as I have occasionally done, please let me know. I want to be sure to include your tale.

Finally, have fun!”

❤️ Amanda

Book recommendations, chronic illness, reading

Book Review: Cull by Tanvir Bush

March 16, 2019March 16, 2019 Amanda, walkamyelinmyshoes

As an aspiring author, I’m always on the lookout for new authors that inspire me. This book appeared in my Bookbub offerings in February, and I was immediately interested, for obvious reasons. The title and the cover speak volumes. (see pic below)

It’s disturbing to hear so many stories about disabled people being further victimized by the attitudes and prejudices of the healthy. When the government jumps on board to legislate discrimination in the guise of rooting out the lazy, lying abusers of the system, the results are truly frightening.

Are there people that abuse the welfare system? Absolutely. Should all people who are already dealing with the challenges of chronic disability live in fear that they will be accused of ‘milking the system’? I won’t answer that, but we know that it happens all too often.

When I first had to give up teaching and go on disability, one person said how lucky I was and that I should go surfing. Um…okay? It’s ignorance, a blissful ignorance of not knowing what it feels like when your body betrays you and all the things you have taken for granted, are taken away. I wish everyone such ignorance.

For those living that reality, further victimization through government policies is very much part of the whole journey. I am fortunate in Canada to have been supported through the process but I hear horror stories from people in the States and the UK about fighting for benefits and not having enough money or proper insurance to afford medication or adequate healthcare.

We know the effects of stress on the human body, and on chronic illness in particular. I can’t imagine living in that kind of fear day in and day out. Tanvir Bush has taken this situation, and in a brilliant satire, given the power back to ‘the crips’. Her protagonist is blind, as is she, and she has the most amazing guide dog, Chris.

Her writing is exceptional, the way she describes the world from the dog’s point of view is brilliant, and overall this book highlights so many important facets of a world that is disturbingly similar to ours. You want to read this book! Amazon links below.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Website for Tanvir Bush and The Holey Vision Blog

❤️ Amanda

life, Quotes

No day but today – Fight the trumpidemic!

July 16, 2018July 16, 2018 Amanda, walkamyelinmyshoes

525,600 minutes in a year.

That’s 1440 minutes every day that each person has to make the myriad of choices, big and small, that we all face daily.

Ultimately though, the one choice that will really make a meaningful difference in this world, both for individuals and for humanity as a whole, as trite as it may sound, is LOVE.

If we can tap into that emotion every day, especially the dark days, and more importantly show it in our actions, the haters can’t win.

I was lucky enough to see Rent onstage in Vancouver twenty years ago, two years after its debut. Rent is a rock musical written by Jonathan Larson, who died suddenly at 36, the morning of its off-Broadway debut in 1996. Talk about no day but today. RIP Jonathan.

I listened to the soundtrack on my road trip last month because the Victoria Operatic Society is performing the musical this fall. My nine year old will be disappointed there are no suitable roles for her. ☺️

Rent is loosely based on the opera “La Bohème” by Puccini, which concerns starving artists in Paris in the 1840s, facing the tuberculosis epidemic. Rent places the struggling artists in New York City in the 1990s, facing the AIDS epidemic.

In 2018, the messages of both these great works are more important than ever as the world faces the trumpidemic that threatens to tear apart the United States. Is that melodramatic? Maybe. I hope so.

As a white, cisgender woman growing up and living in a middle class neighbourhood in Canada, I have been spared the horrific abuse I see hurled at the marginalized, though even as a young girl it hurt my heart to realize humans could treat each other so badly.

Now being a member of another marginalized group, the disabled, I have an inkling (the teeniest for sure) of the challenges so many people face in being accepted and valued in our society.

Diversity, tolerance, love, friendship, hope, despair, addiction, disease, discrimination, the class divide and the death of art – timeless themes that we human beings should have a better handle on by now.

Instead, a Muppet-like wannabe dictator (sorry Jim Henson) a misguided, heartless president is sowing the seeds of hatred, intolerance and bigotry through his ridiculous Twitterganda and isolationism.

The strongest weapon against his particular brand of nastiness, is LOVE. Seasons of love, people, that’s what we need.

No day but today.

Have you seen Rent? If not, I highly recommend! The actual musical is way better but they did a great job with the movie which includes most of the original Broadway cast. It’s on Netflix. 😊

I propose we start a new hashtag movement. It seems the haters and the trolls are the ones who spend time and energy spewing hatred online. Rather than wasting our (precious spoonie) energy by engaging in a useless attempt at intelligent debate, let’s drown them with a tsunami of #fightthetrumpidemic and #chooselove hashtags every time they comment.

In order to stem the tide of ignorance and hate, we have to overcome the apathy, stop talking amongst ourselves and start fighting back. Who’s with me?

Heart shaped clearing in the clouds framing the words. — Fight the trumpidemic. Choose LOVE!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful week!

❤️ Amanda

Tag: discrimination

Twittering Tales 7-2-19: Just listen!

Book Review: Cull by Tanvir Bush

No day but today – Fight the trumpidemic!

525,600 minutes in a year.

That’s 1440 minutes every day that each person has to make the myriad of choices, big and small, that we all face daily.

Ultimately though, the one choice that will really make a meaningful difference in this world, both for individuals and for humanity as a whole, as trite as it may sound, is LOVE.

If we can tap into that emotion every day, especially the dark days, and more importantly show it in our actions, the haters can’t win.

I was lucky enough to see Rent onstage in Vancouver twenty years ago, two years after its debut. Rent is a rock musical written by Jonathan Larson, who died suddenly at 36, the morning of its off-Broadway debut in 1996. Talk about no day but today. RIP Jonathan.

I listened to the soundtrack on my road trip last month because the Victoria Operatic Society is performing the musical this fall. My nine year old will be disappointed there are no suitable roles for her. ☺️

Rent is loosely based on the opera “La Bohème” by Puccini, which concerns starving artists in Paris in the 1840s, facing the tuberculosis epidemic. Rent places the struggling artists in New York City in the 1990s, facing the AIDS epidemic.

In 2018, the messages of both these great works are more important than ever as the world faces the trumpidemic that threatens to tear apart the United States. Is that melodramatic? Maybe. I hope so.

As a white, cisgender woman growing up and living in a middle class neighbourhood in Canada, I have been spared the horrific abuse I see hurled at the marginalized, though even as a young girl it hurt my heart to realize humans could treat each other so badly.

Now being a member of another marginalized group, the disabled, I have an inkling (the teeniest for sure) of the challenges so many people face in being accepted and valued in our society.

Diversity, tolerance, love, friendship, hope, despair, addiction, disease, discrimination, the class divide and the death of art – timeless themes that we human beings should have a better handle on by now.

Instead, a Muppet-like wannabe dictator (sorry Jim Henson) a misguided, heartless president is sowing the seeds of hatred, intolerance and bigotry through his ridiculous Twitterganda and isolationism.

The strongest weapon against his particular brand of nastiness, is LOVE. Seasons of love, people, that’s what we need.

No day but today.

Have you seen Rent? If not, I highly recommend! The actual musical is way better but they did a great job with the movie which includes most of the original Broadway cast. It’s on Netflix. 😊

In order to stem the tide of ignorance and hate, we have to overcome the apathy, stop talking amongst ourselves and start fighting back. Who’s with me?

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful week!

❤️ Amanda

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525,600 minutes in a year.

That’s 1440 minutes every day that each person has to make the myriad of choices, big and small, that we all face daily.

Ultimately though, the one choice that will really make a meaningful difference in this world, both for individuals and for humanity as a whole, as trite as it may sound, is LOVE.

If we can tap into that emotion every day, especially the dark days, and more importantly show it in our actions, the haters can’t win.

I was lucky enough to see Rent onstage in Vancouver twenty years ago, two years after its debut. Rent is a rock musical written by Jonathan Larson, who died suddenly at 36, the morning of its off-Broadway debut in 1996. Talk about no day but today. RIP Jonathan.

I listened to the soundtrack on my road trip last month because the Victoria Operatic Society is performing the musical this fall. My nine year old will be disappointed there are no suitable roles for her. ☺️

Rent is loosely based on the opera “La Bohème” by Puccini, which concerns starving artists in Paris in the 1840s, facing the tuberculosis epidemic. Rent places the struggling artists in New York City in the 1990s, facing the AIDS epidemic.

In 2018, the messages of both these great works are more important than ever as the world faces the trumpidemic that threatens to tear apart the United States. Is that melodramatic? Maybe. I hope so.

As a white, cisgender woman growing up and living in a middle class neighbourhood in Canada, I have been spared the horrific abuse I see hurled at the marginalized, though even as a young girl it hurt my heart to realize humans could treat each other so badly.

Now being a member of another marginalized group, the disabled, I have an inkling (the teeniest for sure) of the challenges so many people face in being accepted and valued in our society.

Diversity, tolerance, love, friendship, hope, despair, addiction, disease, discrimination, the class divide and the death of art – timeless themes that we human beings should have a better handle on by now.

Instead, a Muppet-like wannabe dictator (sorry Jim Henson) a misguided, heartless president is sowing the seeds of hatred, intolerance and bigotry through his ridiculous Twitterganda and isolationism.

The strongest weapon against his particular brand of nastiness, is LOVE. Seasons of love, people, that’s what we need.

No day but today.

Have you seen Rent? If not, I highly recommend! The actual musical is way better but they did a great job with the movie which includes most of the original Broadway cast. It’s on Netflix. 😊

In order to stem the tide of ignorance and hate, we have to overcome the apathy, stop talking amongst ourselves and start fighting back. Who’s with me?

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful week!

❤️ Amanda

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