Past Sad Stuff, Present Good, Future Magic

Dear Blog Readers,

It has been one year since my dear Mother died from a fall she had when she returned home after seeing a screening of my movie in Shelburne. I was feeling a little out of sorts about that so I asked Emily to give me a fairy card reading. I thought it was so “right on” I decided to share it with you.

Past, Present and Future is the lens I wanted and here is how it unfolded.

I picked this guy as the Past.

and when Emily asked me how he resonated with me I said.

“Oh I love him and my “mom hole” is filled by him.”

And she said.

“Yes, I think he flew into that hole last year and has been with you through thick and thin.”

The Present Fairy was this wise woman.

My response about resonance was

“I think when I look too hard for solutions I do some grabbing. My hopes are really enough and knowing that leaves more room for magic.  I am running many scenarios for my future through my head these days and know what grows into being will be more awesome than I can imagine. I do find it hard not to cling tight sometimes.”

I received the awesomest Fairy for the Future.

How cool is she for a guy like me? This is what I said to Emily about her.

“I love that.

I think it will be dear.

I think it will be clear.

I think it will really change a lot of lives.”

And, now, for each of those lines I will give easy examples.

I loved getting this Fairy for My Future because as much as I fear the thought of what I am accustomed to leaving, I welcome new levels of responsibility.

I have had a wonderful time working on my movie, my writing and, now, Utter Communication Strategies (UCS).  If work continues down the same road it will clearly be dear.

I, also, believe it will unfold neatly. I’m doubtful it will be free of problems but, mostly, I think they will be good problems.

UCS is meant to give alternatives to people wanting to change some of their ways of being communicators. I think many could benefit.

Please consider reading fairies with Emily one of these days.

I wish the best to you all.

Fondly,

Mark

The Whole Man with Fairies All Around

The Key to Open the Door

Good Day, Dear Blog Readers,

I am delighted to be writing to you.  Today I am confident about the future because Vermont is blooming.

I had a wonderful vacation last week.  I visited a round house in the country and enjoyed lots of awesome meals and really great conversations and wonderful naps and hopeful visions of ways I might like to organize my life in the future. 

I am really so confident today because of a new law the Feds passed that will allow people with disabilities to have bank accounts.

The law is called The A.B.L.E Act and its initials stand for Achieving a Better Life Experience.  Right now I can't pursue a career in giving inspirational speeches, writing or showing my movie in schools.  You may not know that people with disabilities cannot make more than a certain amount of money before their services are affected.  This keeps people in poverty.  I will never not need services but I would like the opportunity to make money and get taxed like everyone else. We all deserve a chance to pursue the dreams we have for our lives. 

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) opened this door for us 25 years ago.  The A.B.L.E. Act gives us our own key. 

The joy of warm days is here.

See my wishes in the clouds and yours in the flowers.

Have fun and I will too.

Thanks for being the best YOU you can be.

Fondly,

Mark

The Good Money Maker

Revisiting Disability Awareness Day

Dear Blog Readers,

I don’t know if it was clear in my last blog posting but I didn’t make it to Disability Awareness Day at the Vermont Statehouse in person because I was down in the dumps about my life. I am sure every one of you can relate to those mental health moments when you close in on yourself.

Today Emily and Brian told me about a great guy I missed seeing speak. He is a member of the Deaf community in Vermont. Joyful and tearful Emily was as she read a copy of his statement. He is a young farmer and he is an old wise, wide thinker.

I have a copy of his words. Please check them out below.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend.

Fondly,

Mark

The Resurrected Advocate

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"I am very happy to speak here today, and I have two questions to ask of you:

First of all, why should we support people with needs in Vermont? I'd like to point to the plaque down the hallway past the coat room here at the State House; a quote by Dorothy Canfield Fisher - “The Vermont tradition grapples energetically with the basic problem of human conduct... how to reconcile the needs of the group, of which every man or woman is a member,... with the craving for individual freedom to be what he really is."

We all have needs to be addressed, and it takes a community to answer them. After all, I came here today to speak about Deafness, but that would just be a rivulet in the mountain. I wish to speak about the whole paradigm of “disability”. That word has never sat well with me for my entire life. I must also admit that I felt like a burden to others for such a long time. Now I ask, must I be defined by what I lack, rather than what I can bring to the world as a unique individual? Once we gain that heart-understanding, we can empower ourselves to focus on what lessons we can teach each other.

Being Big “D” - Deaf”, a cultural noun, as opposed to a small “d”, a describing verb, indicates that being Deaf is a disability-induced culture, we have taken the loss of our hearing and turned it into the gain of new languages and cultures of the deaf all around the world. This is a human response of adaptation, which I believe is a beautiful expression of our basic impulse to create and thrive. The pathological attitude has led us to believe a story that we are less and defined by our lack of “parts”. Nothing could be further from the truth. As Goethe once said, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”.

We should not allow our politicians, experts, and society as whole define us by our differences. Instead we need to share our diversity because that is what makes the world an interesting place to live. May we share our adversity to find opportunities that open hearts and make the world a brighter place.

The Dalai Lama gave a speech at the US Senate a little over a year ago. He said - “With our thoughts, we make our world. Our mind is central and precedes our deeds. Speak or act with a pure mind, and happiness will follow you like a shadow that never leaves...”

So, when I see the word “disability” I see the word “difference”. I ask that we leave this room today and think about how we really want to define ourselves and our world?"

- Stuart Soboleski, Vermont Association of  the Deaf