This has been a rather curious endeavor, working at a state office that provides assistance to several disadvantaged groups — and being able to see things on the other side of that reinforced wall. It is an interesting perspective. And I think having a background (however limited) in disability rights and other issues of social justice helps me understand far better what is going on. I’m not sure about you, but I can hold two opposing ideas in my head at the same time and manage to see the truth in both of them. I am large; I contain multitudes. There are honestly many things that are beyond our ability to fix, address, or really do anything other than acknowledge, if that. Sometimes, there is nothing we can do. And yet — and yet. Are the way things are the way things have to be? When the way things are means our rights cannot be fulfilled, must we abdicate them? Are our minds, our worlds, so limited?
I think I’m glad this is a limited-term job; I am still debating myself over whether I can really handle this. But for the time being, well, I will. It’s who I am. And honestly, I love it. I only wish my body allowed me the option of doing anything else too.
So this is what I have been doing. I’m doing my best to restore, slowly and deliberately, a careful balance to my life. Come say hello.
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lilacsigil
| Saturday, December 27, 2008 | 9:08 pmI work in the dispensary and office of a pharmacy, and I try to bring some of my understanding of life as a sick person to the other side of the counter. I try to remind myself that I am dealing with people at their worst – when they are sick and scared, and suddenly having to deal with an often new and complex idea of themselves as sick – and that they are placing a great deal of trust in me. It’s still hard with some of the baby boomer age-group, who will not accept chronic illness (or indeed ongoing medication to prevent illness, such as blood pressure medication) and instead argue that they’re not sick. But I work and work at not blaming them, or being angry, but understanding instead, remembering my own fear and confusion, and the work it takes to manage health. One thing that helps is reminding myself that my country has universal health care, and relatively cheap and available medication – I don’t know if I could cope with working in healthcare in the US!
three rivers fog » (Il)legal drugs and me
| Friday, April 24, 2009 | 1:43 pm[...] and beneficial for folks who use them responsibly. And this is yet another time to emphasize that a person can, in fact, hold two ideas in one’s head at the same time: I can vehemently reject recreational drugs [...]