This is a weekly column about living everyday life with lupus. It is written by Catherine Daniels.
Have you ever wanted to do something that would shape the way people think? Nothing ground breaking; just that something small but powerful. I have spent the entire course of my life trying to figure out how I was going to make that happen. They say nothing is a mistake and that there is a reason for everything we do and or say. For example, I spent some time working with young adults with disabilities. The goal was to teach about grooming and self- esteem, but it seems they taught me. I got far more out of the experience than anticipated. I draw inspiration from the moments I make doing for others.
I think that I take my life for granted. Truth: I have Lupus and it’s not going away. Truth: My family and I are currently without a permanent, home but it seems to have brought us closer together. Before the intrusion of lupus into my life I thought things were pretty great with parenting, homemaking, career and all those other things. Life was good. But complaints come with life. You can’t do too much in life without some bumps in the road. When we set out to design our lives, we can never assume that things will go as planned. In my design I would have never planned homelessness, but it happened and we are dealing with it
Every day I live with the “my life should have been different” thoughts. Sure things could have been different but I would not be the person I am today. Learning to adapt is one of those things that are built into our thought process at birth. When leaving the womb immediately we have to adapt to air, sounds and touch. When we meet our first friend, we have to adapt and so on. Adaptation is a necessary part of life.
With Lupus and Homelessness, the rules are the same. We had to adapt from the wholeness of health, to a lifestyle upheaval of mind, body and soul. Homelessness is different. There are labels that society has put on homelessness. Technically, though, we are not homeless. We are what is called a displaced family. We have a temporary roof over our heads and clean beds to sleep in. Whether its homeless or displaced there are things that make each of those separate. The ease of dependency when you are homeless comes in the form of outreach intakes. When you call Central Access Point there are people there trained to resource agencies on the behalf the homeless client. Then with displacement you are researching resources on your own and creating opportunity. This is where we live. We had to adapt to living out of a suitcase, and learning to make cooking and cleaning a simpler task. There are more things, but I don’t want to go into everything I do.
