Columns

Looking Backward but Living Life Forward With MD

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards,” said philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. He came up with an existential masterpiece. In a dozen words, Kierkegaard captured what we all struggle with in finding meaning in our lives. I find it much easier to look backward to…

Dating in the Era of Coronavirus

It is undeniable that the coronavirus pandemic has affected many aspects of life. Along with establishing new norms for work, school, and social interaction, the pandemic has forced romantic relationships to undergo alterations.  “When can I see you again?” my boyfriend, Will, asked for the…

Creativity Allows Me to Surpass Any Physical Limits

For a long time, I didn’t think journalism was a creative endeavor. I viewed the craft from an analytical perspective. After all, I was just recounting my firsthand experience publishing interviews and translating research. It wasn’t until recently — when I began reading the book “…

Medicare’s Role for People with Disabilities

On May 1, I became eligible for Medicare. This is one of those milestones in life. I was able to access this benefit a few years early because of my muscular dystrophy. I am now on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). The way it works is that after…

Learning to Accept My Mental Illness Through Creativity

Positivity is a characteristic that I naturally possess. I seldom struggle to find the bright side of situations. Although this attribute has saved me innumerous times from acquiring a negative disposition, I have not been completely unscathed by depression and anxiety.  My mental illness began early…

What I’ve Learned from Starting a Twitch Channel

When I started my Twitch channel in February, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I became quite familiar with the video game streaming platform through journalism, and finally worked up the courage to start. In the four months since then, I’ve learned about starting a small business, branding, design,…

Let’s Aim to Achieve True Global Accessibility

On May 21, the world celebrated its ninth Global Accessibility Awareness Day, but accessibility awareness hasn’t yet risen to its deserved level of interest. The awareness day website shares a great picture of this initiative’s potential scale: there are about a billion people with visual, hearing, motor, or cognitive…

Why Self-monitoring Our Functioning Levels Is Important

The muscular dystrophy world is ever-evolving. I began to have symptoms of muscle loss and weakness in 2006. Science had not yet discovered my form of the illness, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy subtype 2L (LGMD2L). My physician, a member of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, told me they would find…