From First Date to Five Years

Fun fact: my boyfriend Dan and I had our first date in a park in Port Credit, just as a pandemic lockdown ended - AKA, I hadn't been out in awhile.

I hadn't been out in so long, in fact, that I literally forgot I struggle with getting up from the ground, because I'd had no reason to do it in forever - until we were about an hour into sitting on a picnic blanket on a grassy incline, and it suddenly hit me that I'd eventually have to get up in front of him.

I was horrified. I was sure if he saw me struggle to get up, or if he offered his hand and noticed I need more support than the average person, it'd elicit questions I wasn't prepared to answer, since I hadn't yet told him about my muscle disability.

And so what did I do to avoid this awkward situation?

I MADE HIM LOOK AWAY WHILE I GOT UP. 😩

Literally pulled a "look over there" and then ignored that this new situation was far more awkward than the original probably would've been LOL 😂

That's a pretty obvious example of one of the ways we usually try to fit in - we aim to hide what makes us feel different.

Which is part of what my TEDx talk, "How can we fit in without losing who we are?" is about - the different ways we try to fit in, why they don't work, and what can actually help once we finally accept our Thing that we can't change.

Because acceptance is important...but it's also not enough. This talk explains what to do after the acceptance - because that's not the end of the journey.

I'm happy to say that our communication has dramatically improved since then LOL - today's our fifth anniversary! 🥰

You can watch, comment and share by clicking on the YouTube link here - thank you so much! 🙏🏽💖🎉