Why I Created This Blog

"Be who you needed when you were younger"

When I first lost control/use of my right leg in 2015, I desperately needed to see a disabled person in the outdoors, because I needed to know that was still possible for me.

When I was diagnosed with CIRS in 2016, I desperately needed to hear from someone who had been through treatment, because I needed to know it was possible to recover from the horrific symptoms I was experiencing.

And for two years, I have watched as disabled people's lives have been treated as expendable-- acceptable collateral damage for the sake of non-disabled people returning to their "normal" during a global pandemic. I have sat quietly as even family members ranted to me that we need to get back to the way things were and that "some people are just going to have to die". I wonder: have I been so quiet they do not realize that *I* would be included in this sacrifice?

This account is a love letter to the younger me and anybody else who needs to hear this: It won't always feel like this. It is possible to enjoy the outdoors with disabilities. And every life has value, no matter its challenges.

This account will be a celebration of the outdoors, and an invitation for everybody to enjoy the outdoors- whether that means hiking in the mountains, picnicing in a park, or living vicariously through online videos-- just as I did while I was bedridden.

This account will be informed by chronically illness and disability, because my life is informed by these identities, and I am no longer choosing to hide those parts of me to make others comfortable. Challenges and limitations will be discussed, as well as joy and laughter.

Chronic illness and disability are not- and *should not be*- a death sentence. My life is no less valuable than any healthy, able-bodied person's life. My disabled life is worthy, and I want other disabled folks to know that your disabled life is worthy too.

-ADL

To get started, read about my My Illness Journey