Survive—and Thrive by Steven E. Brown © 2017, Institute on Disability Culture, All Rights Reserved Many years ago–actually decades ago now–a friend gifted me a button with the saying “Gentleness is Strength.” I didn’t understand. She explained I was gentle, but there was an underlying determination (most of my life I’ve labeled it perseverance) that […]

On November 10th 2016, the day after the election I sent out the following letter to people who I would identify as elders. Those people with wisdom, who have thoughtfully maintained connection and dedication to, as Grace Lee Boggs says, “growing our souls.” I have met these people through my activism and through interviews I conducted for […]

“Ok, wait, give me the dates?” I asked my partner through the phone line as we talked on his work break. He lists out several meeting dates and we discuss a conflict of overlapping meetings. I asked how he was going to choose which meeting to attend and he began listing out other people’s priorities […]

I watch as smoke drifts upwards from a small fire in my friend’s backyard. As the smoke lifts into the night sky, I ask it to carry my prayers and pleas up to Spirit. Inside the house, a map of the United States filled in with mostly red, is displayed on the screen of the […]

Self-care doesn’t start with “doing.” Taking care of you doesn’t start with routines, activities, goals. Self-care starts with the truth, being in your truth. As a Disabled Mestiza raised in Latinx culture, my childhood was mostly about medical professionals using the idea of “fitting in” and having friends as a way to motivate me to do what they […]

This morning I am out in the desert sitting among the prickly pear cacti and saguaros. I am here to contemplate divining new life/work paths, to give my heart a break from the flood of pain on social media/real-life and for much-needed nourishment. This is an overwhelming time. I’ve been feeling overwhelmed both by the […]

The wind is scattering hundreds of little yellow Palo Verde flowers across the cement porch where I sit. I am holding a pot of dirt and the remnants of an orchid my Grandma gave me. It wasn’t an especially precious flower or rare, but after she died the flower took on new meaning. It was […]

Exhausted by process, I escape to the desert to let it hold my heart. The past two months have been an intense time of reading, re-reading, writing, editing and listening. At the end of writing content for the book, I’m now tasked with the little/big things like chapter names. I settle in and listen for […]

Winter solstice December 22, 2015 This morning when I went outside to greet the sun, it was already almost halfway up in the sky. I try to go out and greet the sun most mornings. There’s something about feeling sunlight on your face, eyes closed, that just feels so good especially in the winter. Every […]

I am deep in the writing process working steadily towards a deadline at the end of January. Last week I printed out a lot of my work and am steadily combing through each chapter and editing, which pretty much involves me asking myself about 50 times a day, “What am I really trying to say?” […]