Potential

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The Morpho Machine And The Magic Of Life’s Potential

I wasn’t sure I was going to really get into it. But after two episodes of ‘The Big Door Prize‘ I was hooked. There really was something magical about the way each character wrestled with identity and meaning. It was like the telling of an old fable — while the story was entertaining and fictional, there were some profound truths that reflected deeply in reality.

It really isn’t a new story. In fact, if your a fan of some of those old spaghetti westerns with Clint Eastwood, you probably would recognize some of the very similar elements — a stranger comes to town, turns much of the community upside down, transformers several of the marginalized characters (like the little person or the lonely widow) by empowering them or causing them to question their relationships in the community, and overturning the power structures along the way. Just so happens in this case that the stranger is a machine.

Here’s the question that really grabbed my imagination though… What would you do if your life potential came out as: DISABLED?!

Seriously, would you have it printed on a blue sweatshirt and wear it everywhere you went? Probably not. And like some of the characters in the show, you probably wouldn’t be telling others about it to quickly either. Although, most would probably notice it right away. In truth, we probably would find it confusing as to how the word ‘DISABILITY’ was being associated with our life’s potential.

In most cases, the word disability carries a certain stigma and negative meaning with it. We avoid being associated with the word DISABLED because we recognize a certain fatalism, prejudice, and label to which our society places upon those with disabilities. Henri Nouwen says that:

“Fatalism afflicts us in many ways. It affects our relationships. We use labels and categories that prevent us from expecting anything new from each other.”

Nouwen, Henri. Turn My Mourning into Dancing (p. 43). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

When the word ‘disability’ is treated as a label, rather than a defined element in character, it allows prejudice and ableism to diminish the life potential and human value upon individuals. If it was instead held lightly as a revealing of defined human liminality and physical or mental embodiment, disability could redefine itself as individual and communal empowerment for potential.

This sort of fatalism and ableism is not necessarily absent from the internal wrestlings of the disabled themselves, either. They also must learn and repent of an ableist mindset in order to discover new potentials in life.

For most of my life I chose to avoid the label of being disabled. I told people that I’d rather find meaning as a person with CHALLENGES. The thought was that we need to do away with limiting words like disability because of the damaging ways society has abused it and misused its true definition. Unfortunately, I now recognize that this created a disembodiment and sort of disassociation with my physical wellbeing and personhood over the course of my life. As Hillary McBride describes:

“Our body and our personhood are so intimately connected that they can never be separated. We are not just a mind, or brain, carried around by a meat-puppet of flesh and bones. Embodiment is a kind of remembering of who we really are, because what we picked up along the way was disembodiment. But disembodiment is not how we come into the world. It can be unlearned, while embodiment, our birthright, can be remembered. So embodiment is a coming home, a remembering of our wholeness, and a reunion with the fullness of ourselves.”

McBride, Hillary L.. The Wisdom of Your Body (pp. 13-14). HarperCollins Canada. Kindle Edition.

So how can we find renewed meaning and embodiment in the word DISABILITY? Over the next few weeks I would like to explore three identity building practices I found in Betty Pies’s book ‘The Space Between Us‘. It is my hope we can find a deeper and more robust meaning as people with disabilities through understanding our Defined, our Defended, and our Deeper identity’s.

This post originally was published here: The Morpho Machine And The Magic Of Life’s Potential

#Potential #Disabled #Embodiment

The Morpho Machine And The Magic Of Life’s Potential

I wasn’t sure I was going to really get into it. But after two episodes of ‘The Big Door Prize’ I was hooked. There really was something magical about the way each character wrest…
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In the middle

I feel so stuck in these questions from the image --
"Tell me, father,
which to ask forgiveness for:
what I am, or what I'm not?
Tell me, mother,
which should I regret:
what I became or what I didn't?"

I have written on here before about feeling the heavy weight of potential that I haven't lived up to. I feel like I should have been able to overcome the trauma and mental health challenges. I feel ashamed of where I am at in life, so I am deliberately isolating from friends and family so I don't have to answer their questions. My therapist reminds me of all the ways I am succeeding in life, but I just can't accept it.

I feel like I need to ask forgiveness from someone for where my life is at, but there is no one to direct that request to. Sometimes, I feel like I need to stand on top of a mountain with a bullhorn and shout, "I'm sorry! I'm just sorry!" to the world. I have no other words.

#Potential #goals #Forgiveness #Selftalk #Relationships #Faith #MentalHealth #Depression #Anxiety #Trauma #CheckInWithMe

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You never know who that child could be

The topic of abortion has been weighing on my mind lately.
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What if the baby you want to abort is the world's next genius?
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What if the doctors are wrong and your child will be completely healthy?
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What if you gave that baby up for adoption since there are SO SO many people who want a baby but physically can't have them?
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What if you became a parent and it was the greatest blessing and lesson you ever received?
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What if you chose to save your baby so they can reach the potential they could have?
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I understand there are major reasons for an abortion, such as in the case of rape or incest, or if the mother's life is in serious danger.
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I have just known too many women who have been told by doctors and medical professionals that their baby might have major disabilities or live only for a short time, and that they should abort. These women went on to have beautiful, healthy babies.
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Miracles happen. Life is precious. Don't make the judgement call for your baby. You never know what the outcome may be for them.❤
#Abortion #prolife #Prochoice #Potential #Gifts

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Some people can’t see are full potential. We got to realize that on our own we have that potential and we need to see it. Or at least believe in it. Let’s make today not realizing others potential but our own potential. We can soar through the skies if we wanted to.
#Potential

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Capabilities

You are capable of doing so much more than you give yourself credit for. “If we all did the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves”-Thomas Edison. It might take a couple of tries but you have the capabilities to succeed. If it doesn’t work at first, keep trying, you have the potential. #Capability #Potential

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What’s In A Name?? #treatment #knowledge #Recovery

#Treating an #Undiagnosed #illness is like swimming for the surface when your lungs are about to give out. #BloodTests , #Cultures ... on paper you are fine, and yet you’re obviously not. There is #power in a name. There is a plan in a name. There is #Hope in a name. There is a #future when you know what you’re dealing with and you can begin to #Breathe again. Until then, we drown in #Copays and #Confusion ; #Pain and perplexity. Someone is going to figure me out, and I will consume the all-refreshing breath of #knowledge , and the #Potential that comes with it.

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