Touching My Toes
Aug. 20th, 2010 04:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brightlotusmoonKings And Queens - 30 Seconds To Mars.
I love the hell out of this song and I can't quite explain why. I didn't even know it was sung by Jared Leto until I looked it up. Something about it reminds me of "Baba O'Riley" by The Who.
You know what I can do on Flexeril? Touch my toes all the way. Right side only, though. I wasn't expecting great things from the spastic hemiplegia on my left side anyway. This one of those things about my life that get me ridiculously hopeful and slightly excited. Like jumping rope when I was little. I couldn't do it for the longest time, because the specific connections between my brain and my legs were dead or screwed up in strange ways. I could tell my body to jump all I wanted, but nothing would happen. I could hop on one leg, barely. But asking me to lift both legs at the same time, and also propel my body forward was crazy-making. Jump? What the hell does that mean? I was deliriously proud when I first learned how to jump a rope and continue jumping in rapid succession while the rope moved over me. That was total magic. Really, it's the little things that nobody thinks about.
Sometimes, when I hear about someone whining terribly about a small temporary injury, blowing it out of proportion, I suppress the urge to snarl, "Bitch, I didn't know how to run properly until I was maybe seven years old. I spent my entire life learning to physically do things that most people figured out at age two. Your sprained ankle will heal. You will soon go back to dancing and running and moving like a normal, non-disabled humanoid. Stop crying at me."
Now, I realize that there are many people who are completely non-disabled in any way, totally physically normal, and they can't touch their toes. I get that. "Oh, Joanna, don't worry, I'm not disabled and I've never been able to touch my toes or [perform specific physical stretching activity]!" That's great. Thank you. The point is that I physically can't do certain things. And I am using "can't" in a literal sense. As in, my brain-body connection doesn't allow it to happen. As in, inability. As in, unable to do such things without proper medication. "Oh, but you just need to stretch more! Try these yoga exercises that I found on this awesome yoga site!" Yes, thank you, I've tried those exercises. They did not help me touch my toes. "Oh, but you can't let your disabilities get you down! You have to work past your pain!" Thank you, but I don't let my disabilities get me down. I do work past my pain. The point is only that Flexeril helps me touch my toes without screaming. Shut up and be happy for me.
I think I'm going to dance for a bit, because I can.
I love the hell out of this song and I can't quite explain why. I didn't even know it was sung by Jared Leto until I looked it up. Something about it reminds me of "Baba O'Riley" by The Who.
You know what I can do on Flexeril? Touch my toes all the way. Right side only, though. I wasn't expecting great things from the spastic hemiplegia on my left side anyway. This one of those things about my life that get me ridiculously hopeful and slightly excited. Like jumping rope when I was little. I couldn't do it for the longest time, because the specific connections between my brain and my legs were dead or screwed up in strange ways. I could tell my body to jump all I wanted, but nothing would happen. I could hop on one leg, barely. But asking me to lift both legs at the same time, and also propel my body forward was crazy-making. Jump? What the hell does that mean? I was deliriously proud when I first learned how to jump a rope and continue jumping in rapid succession while the rope moved over me. That was total magic. Really, it's the little things that nobody thinks about.
Sometimes, when I hear about someone whining terribly about a small temporary injury, blowing it out of proportion, I suppress the urge to snarl, "Bitch, I didn't know how to run properly until I was maybe seven years old. I spent my entire life learning to physically do things that most people figured out at age two. Your sprained ankle will heal. You will soon go back to dancing and running and moving like a normal, non-disabled humanoid. Stop crying at me."
Now, I realize that there are many people who are completely non-disabled in any way, totally physically normal, and they can't touch their toes. I get that. "Oh, Joanna, don't worry, I'm not disabled and I've never been able to touch my toes or [perform specific physical stretching activity]!" That's great. Thank you. The point is that I physically can't do certain things. And I am using "can't" in a literal sense. As in, my brain-body connection doesn't allow it to happen. As in, inability. As in, unable to do such things without proper medication. "Oh, but you just need to stretch more! Try these yoga exercises that I found on this awesome yoga site!" Yes, thank you, I've tried those exercises. They did not help me touch my toes. "Oh, but you can't let your disabilities get you down! You have to work past your pain!" Thank you, but I don't let my disabilities get me down. I do work past my pain. The point is only that Flexeril helps me touch my toes without screaming. Shut up and be happy for me.
I think I'm going to dance for a bit, because I can.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-08-20 08:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-20 09:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-20 09:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-20 09:47 pm (UTC)*hugs n cuddles*
no subject
Date: 2010-08-20 10:25 pm (UTC)It's been - a day. And check out the dream I just posted (on top of personal stuff that will make me sound like a bad person if I get into it). I really feel like this day can just go away now :(
no subject
Date: 2010-08-21 02:06 am (UTC)BTW, I totally just called you abnormal. :P
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Date: 2010-08-21 03:19 am (UTC)And I totally did not know that about the cocyx. So, like, how come high school gym teachers are always yelling at kids to touch their toes?
no subject
Date: 2010-08-21 03:22 am (UTC)I can touch my toes, but I definitely shouldn't; it's a side effect of my genetic mutation of super bendy powers.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-21 09:04 pm (UTC)Literally, my whole life, I was told that I should stretch far enough to try and touch my toes -- and no one ever, ever told me that actually touching your toes was not an easy thing for many adults.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-21 07:53 am (UTC)