Spotlight on Stigma... Welcomed but Not Accepted

I wrote this in 2004 when I was living in Tennessee.  It's a very busy time in my life right now so I thought I'd post something that was very important to me, even though it was a long time ago. Saturday evening... Wow.  Now that I'm back home it's hard to believe that it really happened.  I went on my first hike in years!  It was so hard but so wonderful.  I wrote this stuff in my journal so that I would be able to remember this day and I'm pasting it here for your reading edification.  :) Get a snack, go to the bathroom, get settled in a comfy chair - it's not short - but I think the time that God provided for me today is so great that I just had to share... The views of the river and the mountains on the way there were so beautiful!  I will have to go back; it was prettier there than in the Smokies. I originally was going to go on the hike and then meet my best friend to spend the rest of the afternoon with her.  When I finally real...

I know that, overall, you are compassionate people and really do try. You chose to work with young adults. I don't think that you chose teaching just because you like kicking people when they are down. I'm sure you feel you are doing the best thing for everyone when you don't honor a student's accommodations so that you can "be fair" to the other students. But there are some things you may not realize. You may not believe that these students have actual medical conditions because when you see them, you are usually seeing them at their best - on the days they are able to make it to class and get their work done. There are many medical and psychological conditions that are cyclical. A student might be fine for a month or more and then have a flare-up that's so bad she can hardly get out of bed. Just because a condition isn't there 100% of the time doesn't make it not real. You also may not realize that often those with invisible illnesses are g...

This is one of the best portrayals I've seen about the struggle of recovery... ...and how you finally win. I I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk I fall in. I am lost... I am hopeless. It isn't my fault. It takes forever to find a way out. II I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don't see it. I fall in again. I can't believe I'm in the same place. But it isn't my fault. It still takes a long time to get out. III I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in...it's a habit My eyes are open; I know where I am; It is my fault. I get out immediately. IV I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it. V I walk down another street.