The long winter days are messing with my psyche. I am starting to dwell on my chronic-illness situation. Of course, my MS psyche is no different than anyone else’s psyche that continually deals with sub-par health on a daily basis i.e. those folks with arthritis, diabetes, asthma, etc. The daily management of all can wear down the sufferer.
Gray, rainy skies don’t help swinging your mood into the happy zone. But…today the sun is out and I don’t feel so low. In fact, it’s lifted me up so much that it gave me a boost to post my thoughts on how hard it is to be a depressed invalid. Wait. That doesn’t sound right.
What I mean to convey is that the long winter prevents me from going out of doors any time I want. Snow, ice and other slushy stuff makes my wheelchair ramp into a slalom ski jump. Since I have no desire to join any Olympic team, I wait for better weather – that is, weather that doesn’t have the words “wind” or “chill” in it.
My psyche can devolve into thinking that I have no purpose or validation, you know, an inVAlid invalid. At times like these, one prays for spring to hurry up. My only other recourse is to wheel on down to warmer climes where getting out of the house and doing things can be a daily option.
But for now, I guess I’m forced to engage in emailing my opinions to all and sundry when I read about things that are just not right. For instance, I got passionately upset about the Duluth, Minnesota, School District, removing To Kill a Mockingbird and Huckleberry Finn from their required reading lists because both books used the n-word.
Do you know I actually got a return e-mail? The district’s representative thanked me for writing. She explained the books would still be available for those who wanted to read them, but those books were being replaced on the lists by other anti-racism books that were less controversial.
I was somewhat mollified, but as someone who named her firstborn after the lead character in To Kill A..M.. – Jean Louise (Finch) aka “Scout” – I felt I had to uphold the reading of my favorite book. I don’t think my daughter, Jeanie, has inherited my zeal for Harper Lee’s classic, but she should be happy I didn’t name her “Mockingbird.”
But I digress..The point of my essay is to dispel the notion that I do not have any validity. I will continue to go forth and spread my unsolicited email opinions far and wide in the hopes of shining light on an opposing viewpoint. Or…I could just wait for spring to arrive. Nah.
MS, Actually 
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