#WordyandWheelyWednesdays: World Cerebral Palsy Day 2016

Hello my dear readers! Yes, I am still here. I realise it's been an extremely long time since I last posted (for a combination of work- and life-related reasons, some of which will become clear at a later point.) I'm very pleased to tell you, however, that these long breaks are a thing of the past - mostly due to my desire, and practical need, to have a regular documentation of my PhD process that is slightly more in depth than the few words I scribble in my journal or save as draft texts on my phone.

Welcome, therefore, to the first of what I'll be calling #WordyandWheelyWednesday posts, a weekly write-up of my thoughts on anything I have found particularly striking or useful with regards to my body, the copious amounts of books I read, and the thing that brings them both together, my thesis on disability casting. I hope you'll read and enjoy these - I'd very much welcome suggestions on anything you think I should cover.

It was always my plan to start this project this week, because it's the beginning of the academic year, but today has turned out to be even more apt than I could have wished. Not only was it my first day back on campus, a chance to be reunited with friends whilst helping out with the Opera Warwick stall at Societies Fair and promoting our new community outreach programme (more on that later, probably next week), but it is also World Cerebral Palsy Day 2016! I knew it was soon, as it's always the first Wednesday in October, but I didn't click that it was today until my fabulous mother mentioned it and I had a chance to check Twitter this evening.

So, for the first post in this series, I'd like to pay homage to my CP. It might seem strange that I would use those words of reverence about a condition to which I have been known variously to refer to as my 'Terrible Palsy', 'Lousy Palsy', 'Chronic Partner' (and other things that perhaps aren't appropriate for this blog). Nevertheless, most of these are actually terms of endearment, and, for all the frustrations, my life wouldn't be what it is - I wouldn't be who I am! - if I didn't have my bodily (and brain-ly) buddy. Whilst it's part of my plan in the future to use these entries to discuss the difficulties with honesty, because I'm realising as I write my thesis that this is one of the gaps in theory, I have the rest of the year to fill with that. It seems only fitting to try and express my gratitude today, on the day designated for my disability, since I've been doing things I would never have dreamed of without it.

Thanks to my CP, then, for: 

• Showing me that there is more than one way (literally!) to navigate this world
• Teaching me (sometimes through tears) about the transience of life, and how important it is to laugh in the face of it and embrace every moment
• Educating me early on the vital value of fast friendship - you know someone's worth hanging onto if they put a colander on your head and jump on the back of your chair because they've 'always wanted to ride a Dalek'
• Proving that a wheelchair makes a perfect poster prop and provides a very adequate alternative to a sandwich board
• Coaxing me to be comfortable with (non-)conformity 
• Bullying me (often beligerently) into believing that my body is worth taking care of and nurturing

On that note, I need to listen to that bully and go to bed, because I have another busy day tomorrow. So thanks, body, for that reminder - I love you, even when you're lousy.

Thanks and love to all of you, too, for reading this - but, more than that, for being next to me in my novel navigation when I have needed you most. It means more than I think you know. 

Until next week and another #WordyandWheelyWednesday - happy World Cerebral Palsy Day!