"From this hour I ordain myself loos'd of limits and imaginary lines, going where I list, my own master total and absolute, Listening to others, considering well what they say, Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating, Gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me."
Walt Whitman (1819-92)
"When I look back now over my life and call to mind what I might have had simply for taking and did not take, my heart is like to break."
Akhenaton (d. c.1354 BC)
And now, the current weather, from some random person we pulled off the street:
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Allow Me to Introduce You
un-daunt-ed Function: adjective
1 : courageously resolute especially in the face of danger or difficulty : not discouraged
2 : a young British girl named Jilly
It never fails to amaze me what you can find when you surf blogs.
You can be happily and inanely bouncing from one to the next, checking out the occasional self righteous political rant or self centered social commentary or self indulgent record of mundane events, then you unexpectedly land on a real jewel.
That pretty much describes what happened when I found Life's Rich Tapestry, a blog written by a self described "young(ish), british singleton who laughs far too much for her own good."
But here's the piece that begins to set Jilly apart. "My life changed overnight. I went from career woman to wheelchair woman and was left by my fiance in the process, which, looking back, was quite frankly a lucky escape. Heh."
It turns out that Jilly is the tragic victim of a spinal cord tumor which has left her wheelchair bound. In the process, it turned her life upside down.
Now, I know, there are a lot of blogs out there that deal with similar things, not to mention hundreds of movies on the Lifetime network, none of which I will ever, ever watch. But Jilly has something that truly sets her above every other one like this I have ever seen.
In her words: "This is not one of those serious medical blogs full of 'woe is me', life's too short not to kick some fun ass."
Everyday trials and troubles pass through her filter, things that would have been devastating to some just become almost a side mention. For example: "I am feeling quite a bit better, even though I fell out of my car today and cut my leg open on the corner of the door. 3 Hours in A & E getting stitches and I'm still holding it together. Go me!"
Wow. Go you indeed.
Regular people dealing with big things creates heroes, you know. A wheelchair may make some people shorter, but I have a feeling that, for Jilly, she will only stand taller and taller.
Go visit her. You'll be glad you did.
Rebellion against your handicaps gets you nowhere. Self-pity gets you nowhere. One must have the adventurous daring to accept oneself as a bundle of possibilities and undertake the most interesting game in the world - making the most of one's best.
--Harry Emerson Fosdick
