Hello Everyone!
I hope this finds you well and having a beautiful day! After a 6 year hiatus from blogging, I have decided to (drum roll please…) start blogging again. Yay ☺️! Over the years, my family and friends have said, “Allison, when are you going to blog again? We miss reading about your adventures.” So, I have decided to begin blogging when I can. In today’s blog, I share one of the blessings I have received during the pandemic. Enjoy!
May you be surrounded by sparkly, purply blessings!!
Love and blessings always,
Allison
A few years ago, I was at a crossroads with my health. My health had became a complete conundrum for me. I did everything I could think of to right this beautiful purple ship that I call my body. But, regardless of what I tried, this ship kept tilting to the side until it had completely capsized. After trying various traditional treatments for months and getting momentary relief, I turned to alternative ways to improve my health. I discovered guided meditation and began studying the chakra system and energy healing. This was a whole new world of spirituality and spiritual practice and expanded my understanding of God and our place in the Universe. As I continued my studies, I learned about quantum physics and metaphysics.
I became so excited about everything I was learning that I talked about it to whoever seemed remotely interested. And by “remotely interested”, I mean whoever was within earshot of my voice and was comfortable with talking about God. I’m pretty sure my family and friends could have written books on these topics based solely on what I told them.
I began to wonder how metaphysics could be applied to living with a disability. I was so excited by the idea of expanding both the understanding of disability and the application of spiritual principles that I wanted to talk with other disabled people about these ideas.
I knew that I could not be the only person with a disability on the planet who was interested in spirituality, energy healing and the intersection of spirituality and disability. I knew for a fact that if I existed, other likeminded individuals had to exist too. The mission, though, was finding these people. Where exactly do you go when you want to discuss the intersection quantum physics and the lived experience of disability? That’s not exactly run-of-the-mill office cooler conversation. Yet, I knew that there had to be a place where I could talk about the intersection of these two topics with others.
A friend told me about various Christian ministries that speak directly to the experience of disability. While that was a great starting point, it didn’t quite address my current understanding of God or the experience of being human. I remember thinking, “I’d love to have a spiritual teacher with a disability who combines the lived experience of disability with spiritual teaching and practices.”
About five years after I had this thought, the world as I knew it got turned upside down, inside out and shaken all about by(you know what’s coming …) COVID. When the governor of my state announced stay-at-home orders, I knew coronavirus was a brand new frontier for me and for much of the world. My active lifestyle of attending glass-blowing classes, sailing, shopping, going to museums with friends and other activities came to a sudden halt.
Still, I was a bit dubious about getting too alarmed about this so-called pandemic. So, I spoke to my physician, who informed me, in no uncertain terms, that I was at high risk of not doing so well if I contracted the virus and that I needed to take additional steps to keep my body healthy due to the CP. After our chat, it became abundantly clear that I was going to be bonding with my home for quite a while and only a few people would be allowed into my home.
This shift in lifestyle was not as massive for me as it was for some. Like many in the disability community, during typical (non-pandemic) times, I go out at most twice per week due to the physicality of going places. I love meeting people, visiting places in person and participating in activities. However, due to my reduced muscle control, every movement I make requires a substantial amount of energy. Researchers have estimated that someone with CP uses 3-5 times more energy than someone without a disability. So, when I go out once, I have used the same amount of energy that someone without CP uses to go out five times times in one day. I’m sure you can extrapolate that I need to rest quite a bit to stay healthy. Thus, spending a lot of time in my home was nothing new for me. What was completely new for me was needing to stay in my apartment for months on end because going outside could threaten my life and needing to substantially limit who came into my home.
In light of this new reality, there was only one thing to do… turn my home into a purply oasis of activities that fed my mind, body and spirit. I began attending classes offered by my church on Zoom. I ordered so many art kits from Amazon that I think Amazon should consider naming a building after me. With the help of my caregivers, I became a master jewelry maker. I read countless books on Audible and was more mindful about connecting with family and friends. Even though there was a pandemic raging outside my home, I was just as busy and engaged as ever.
And then it happened.
One day in late March 2020, I opened my email to see a message from my local rehabilitation hospital, Spaulding Rehabilitation. As I read the email, I became more and more excited. After I let out my third or fourth squeal, my caregiver asked what was happening.
“Spaulding is starting an online sports program! We can sign up for whatever class we want and attend the class LIVE on Zoom!” I said, getting more excited with every word.
I began going to Spaulding during my first year of graduate school for physical therapy and occupational therapy. Over the course of my therapies, I learned about Spaulding’s summer sports program for disabled adults. Through participating in the sports program, I learned to windsurf, played wheelchair tennis, kayaked, canoed and rediscovered my love for cycling. In recent years, Spaulding has expanded its sports programs to be year round. Just two weeks before my state went into lockdown, I went rock climbing with Spaulding.
In light of Spaulding’s commitment to providing those with disabilities opportunities to live active, healthy lifestyles, it was only natural that they would find a way to remain true to that commitment during the pandemic. Since many with disabilities were at higher risk than the general public of contracting and dying from COVID, we stayed in our homes more than the general public, and thus were more isolated than those without disabilities. So, having opportunities not only to engage in physical activity, but also to socialize with others, was of the utmost importance. Spaulding offered multiple adapted sports classes such as, chair yoga, weight training, dancing and aerobic exercise five days per week. Since I love yoga and dancing, I signed up for these classes without a second thought.
Spaulding offered another class that piqued my interest: community drum circle. However, I had never been part of a drum circle nor did I own a drum. But, I loved making music and had taken piano classes for years as a little one. While playing the piano is more difficult now, I was certain that I could hold a stick and bang something in rhythm with others. The description of the class said that each drum circle would be led by someone named Craig who would guide us through sound meditations in addition to teaching us how to drum.
I knew I had to try it out when I read “sound meditation,” so I registered for the first class. But, there was one small, itty, bitty question that kept creeping into my otherwise excited mind. What on earth would be my drum? Fortunately, I had a few days before the first drum circle to answer this question. Over the course of the next couple of days, I experimented making sounds with different items until I hit upon the perfect combination of kitchenware: a wooden spoon and a large silver mixing bowl.
With my bowl and spoon perfectly arranged for maximum sound production whenever I whacked the bowl, I was officially ready for my very first drum circle. I logged into the Zoom meeting and, after a few minutes, about seven screens populated my Zoom window. I was so excited, but tried my best not to squeal( I usually save my squeals for the second time I meet someone), so I just quietly danced in my seat.
“Hi everyone! We’re waiting for a few others to join us and then we’ll get started,” Craig said as people joined our Zoom room. After everyone else arrived, Craig introduced himself and asked us each to introduce ourselves and say what we were using as our drum.
When it was my turn I said, “Hi everyone. I’m Allison and I’m so excited to be here! I’m drumming on a lovely metal bowl and a wooden spoon.”
In his trademark way, Craig said, “Right on Allison! See we can make music with whatever we have laying around our house.”
After everyone else introduced themselves, Craig told us about his role at Spaulding and his background in leading drum circles. He then backed up from his camera to show us that he is a wheelchair user and told us about his disability. I went from being excited about drum circle to being overjoyed. I had no idea that our leader had a disability. With that revelation, I was even more ready to soak up this experience.
Craig transitioned from introductions to actual drumming by saying, “There’s a saying among drummers. If you can say it, you can play it. So, I’ll come up with a phrase and I’ll beat my drum to the rhythm of the phrase. When you’re ready, join in. The phrase is ‘I am drumming, drumming’.”
Craig began to slowly play his drum, saying each word as he pounded out the rhythm on his drum. After Craig played the phrase twice, I joined in. Watching Craig’s hands, I cautiously began to play my metal bowl with my wooden spoon. As we continued to play the rhythm, I relaxed, threw caution out the window and played my “drum” like nobody’s business. I was in the pure delight of making music. That metal bowl never sounded so good, if I do say so myself!
However, as much fun as I had drumming that first rhythm, I had no idea that the best part of drumming was moments from happening….
Can you guess what the best moment was? Did my silver mixing bowl magically turn purple? Stop by next month to find out 💜!
