Story Time: The First Time I Met Someone Else With an Invisible Disability

Back in 2016-2017, I worked for Etsy Canada as the Community Programs Coordinator.

My main projects were:

• Fostering engagement among 60-70 Etsy Captains (Etsy sellers who ran in-person market events)
• Planning the Etsy Captains Summit (a 2-day conference in Toronto)
• Leading Etsy Made in Canada/Fait au Quebec (a coordinated day of 40 pop-up markets across the country)

Back then, I was hiding my muscle disability as much as I could - only my manager and the workplace manager knew, for practical reasons. I didn't tell anyone else in the office, and I didn't tell any of the Etsy Captains.

Except for one.

There was one Captain who lived in a rural area of Atlantic Canada. In one of our emails, she mentioned she was a bit nervous about travelling to the big city and being out of her element for a long two days of the Summit, because she has fibromyalgia - an invisible disability.

So even though we hadn't met yet, when I emailed her back, I told her about my neuromuscular disorder. I wanted her to know there'd be someone at the Summit who could relate to her experience.

And honestly, it was nice to know that someone there would relate to mine too. I was 27, and it's actually my earliest memory of bonding with someone over the invisible disability experience.

A lot of the time, we'll aim to hide what makes us feel different, in order to fit in.

But it's actually sharing that Thing that makes us feel different, that lets us find the people who understand us - and to finally feel like we belong.

That's 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 actually helps 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.

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