yesterday, we discussed the tragic difficulties some people have with interacting with people who have bipolar disorder, are deaf, or have other so-called disabilities.
today for some good news regarding people with different abilities.
the other day i came across glenda from do it yourself. wow! this woman is amazing! she’s in a fancy car, she blogs, is an author – oh, and she also has cerebral palsy. she writes her blog with her left thumb.
talk about abilities! what an inspiring woman! (thanks to susan for introducing me to her).
then we have my friend tina, who shushes me every time i use the word “learning disability”. have a taste of it:
i have an extreme dislike for the word dyslexic because it is not true for me and because it describes me as a person with a disability. i can read but i do it in a different way so i prefer to be called “a person with an alternative learning style”.
saying that “i am a person with an alternative learning style” changes the way i see myself and that affects the way others see me.
tina, who left high school hardly being able to read or write, is in the process of finishing a book.
and then i found this little piece in entertainment weekly of all places. it’s about ryan gosling’s new movie, lars and the real girl, to come out on october 12. lars/gosling is in love with a sex doll, bianca.
“he’s really mentally unstable,” says gillespie [the director] … still, gosling doesn’t try to explain away the actions of his troubled character: “his love for bianca is as real as someone else’s love for another person.”
the film’s true heart lies in lars’ support system, including his brother, sister-in-law, psychiatrist and co-worker. “we had discussions like, do they believe in bianca? do they not?” eventually, gillespie decided to have them accept the doll out of devotion to lars. if only we could all have such understanding friends and family.
such a beautiful example of what can happen when we open our hearts, minds, eyes and ears to the “other”, to that which at first glance appears disruptingly different. when we do that, we expand our horizons.
in accepting bianca, this family does more than just humour one of its members. it jumps out of the box and opens the door to saying, “why not?” to life – life that is much bigger and wilder and more beautiful than in those regimented little ruts that we inhabit all to often.
isabella mori
counselling in vancouver
(this post was part of the carnival of motivation and inspiration)