I am currently at the beginning of a great adventure. I have always loved international travel but when I came to terms with the fact that my disability was going to be a long term thing I didn’t know when or if I would be able to do it again. I’ve been living with a spinal cord injury for over four years now and I’m so overjoyed to report that I am sitting in a hotel room in London as I write this. I almost can’t believe it, but it’s true.
This trip came out of the blue for me. At the beginning of the year I wasn’t planning to brave air travel anytime soon. I had heard too many horror stories of expensive wheelchairs being damaged by airlines. The procedures to use wheelchair assistance at the airport sounded so complex and difficult. Airplane travel has always been challenging for me as a large person. Planes are just not made to fit people like me. When you add having a disability into the mix it all felt too overwhelming.
Little did I know, seeds would be planted and they would be watered and grow. Nine months later I find myself here, braving the UK as an ambulatory wheelchair user. I’ll be spending time in London and Scotland and I am so excited. I am sure that there will be moments of difficulty, and there have already been a few, but I have a higher level of tolerance than I used to. I have confidence in my ability to be resourceful and meet challenges with grace, calm and patience.
There’s another dynamic at play that is not related to logistics at all. When humans all over the world are facing such abhorrent suffering, can I really just go on a trip and enjoy myself? This year has been a real doozy and there is so much suffering going on. It feels so strange to admit that, if you remove those factors, my own little life has been going surprisingly well and there’s a lot to be grateful for.
I’m trying to remind myself of a few things. There are people in power who have a goal to create chaos. They want to steal our joy and our peace. In times like these treasuring joy and fostering calm is an act of resistance.
I believe that there is a greater collective of humanity that is connected with an invisible energetic network. We can see a parallel of this phenomenon in nature. Mycelium is an expansive fungal network that connects the entire forest underground. It allows plants to communicate with each other and share resources. It is a massive, mostly invisible force makes mushrooms the largest living organism on the planet. It’s a miracle really.
I believe in the human network energies exchanged in a similar way. The joy that I experience as an individual feeds into a collective bank and others can make withdrawals from. When I live my life with joy it acts like a permission slip for others, encouraging them to pursue it themselves. It’s like a row of candles all lined up. It only takes one to start a chain reaction that results in more light. There is an old saying I love: “a candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.”
What if joy is not a limited resource? What if when I experience joy that doesn’t mean there is less for somebody else? What if, in fact, it is the complete opposite?
There has been a trend towards utter cynicism that is widespread these days. Yet, in my life, there has been undeniable evidence of things turning out better than I even imagined. Recently I wrote a song with the lyric “it’s not dumb to believe in hope.” This is something I need to remind myself of right now because the general consensus seems to be that hope isn’t cool. We can’t afford to live like that. Especially with everything we are facing.
I am so grateful to be alive in this amazing world that has so much magic and beauty to explore. I’m on a mission to spread as much light as I possibly can. It’s my dream that I can inspire others to pursue their own passions. What they do as a result can inspire another person, and another. It’s my dream that people I’ve never even met on the other side of the world will be impacted by the ripples generated by my own little life.
Joy Odadokun posted a song excerpt recently that relates to this. Here’s some of the lyrics:
“It’s hard to feel good baby
it’s a sign of the times
you just wanna dance in the kitchen
but the house is on fire
Try not to let these troubles
Drive you out of your mind
Just try to keep your heart open
Just try to keep your hopes high
Just try”
I’m out here. I’m trying. My hopes are high. My heart is wide open. I hope that yours can be too. If this inspires you even a little bit, please take a moment to let me know. It would mean the world to me.