Skip to main content

Swap a Steel Spine for a Bamboo Spine

Due to surgery I literally have metal in my spine but each day I mentally replace it with bamboo so I can be more flexible if something goes wrong.

Having a disability means that a lot of things are physically out of my control. This gives me a unique perspective in times of crisis. This is what I have learnt.

When I need to stay calm, I visualise myself travelling a dirt road with Jesus, Seneca, and a Zen monk because they say modelling behaviour is what you become.

The green reed which bends with the wind is stronger than the mighty oak that breaks in the storm.
~ Confucius

For me, even the simplest task can be a cause of frustration but instead of breaking and giving up I will stop, become one with the moment, breathe, and try again. This method has led to a simple success like opening my front door and my greatest success of opening night of a play.

I have learnt these methods through an amalgamation of Christian, Stoic, and Zen traditions.

If you are interested in following the same journey, I would recommend reading the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the Moral Letters of Seneca, anything by Alan Watts, and 'Ego is the Enemy' by Ryan Holiday.

Many people have said I do my best work under pressure. If this is true, it is only because I go with the flow.

Bamboo is a symbol of virtue, strength, perseverance, flexibility, humility, renewal, and respect. All traits we could use in our current time.

So next time you find yourself stressed to the max, turn your spine to bamboo; bend and do not break.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Defend Our NDIS

 Defend our NDIS; people have had enough of cuts and changes to the NDIS. The Every Australian Counts campaign has organised a national day of action and events across Australia to take place on 28th of April.  I have been involved in the NDIS from the initial trial phase through to today. People may remember that I was involved in an advertising campaign spruiking the benefits to come once the scheme was up and running.  ‘You’re in charge! Yes we are, aren’t we!’ For awhile this was the truth for participants like myself. I have been very lucky and received 90 percent of what I need from NDIS.  The question is would I have received the same benefits if I was not a skilled disability advocate?  People with disabilities want the original version of the scheme that was promised without having to fight for a reasonable request. It would be a more efficient scheme if the government put the millions of dollars in legal fees into service delivery instead.  Accord...
3 comments
Read more

Throw Out The Label Maker

Through a lot of self-refection over the last few weeks I’ve come to believe it’s time to throw out the label maker before all the labels cover up our humanity. I use to think labels were cool, signs of what we’re meant to be, until those words turned to weapons pointed at me. Spastic, special disabled even retard these are the labels that at one time or another made my life hell. Cousin, aunty uncle, mother, father; where I come in the family tree the energy I share with the world  is unique and impossible for a label to  define. Chink , abo, wog and rag head; I don’t know why we can’t just see each other as people? Gorgeous, sexy, ugly, disgusting, fat and skinny but I want to know why I’ve never seen a picture of a guy or girl in a wheelchair with the caption Heartthrob. We need to recognise all beauty. Success, failure, dumb or genius, normal to eccentric these days all labels do is turn society into us and them. Christian, Muslim, Buddhist are al...
2 comments
Read more

One in Five

Today on the day of International Day of People with Disabilities I had a wake up call as to why a day like today is important. At the shop today, I was confronted by a man ranting and raving. My initial reaction was to call the police, but my disability training kicked in. I went over and asked his mum if he had autism. So, yes, we do need days like this. However, there is a flip side in my brain as well. I want to be seen as just a normal person. That argument that has been going on in my head all day inspired the following poetic thought. ONE IN FIVE One in five of the population have a disability, but I am not a fraction, I am a whole. The International Day of Disabilities is great, but cannot give an insight to my soul. Can a liberal society live with disability, is a question that the ignorant raise. We don’t need special days. Instead of focusing on disability, we should have an international day of ability. I put on a royal robe of red in an attempt to transf...
1 comment
Read more