Hai there, good folks and people! This is Jill/postmodernista- I hope that tonight's get-together finds you all well, or at least with minimal misery. I also hope you'll be kind, 'cause I'm just a tiny bit nervous. Kelley said to introduce myself, and I'll try not to natter - here goes:
I'm a 5th generation native Texan currently in a wee-bitty town right in the smack-dab middle; we've come a long way toward urban development since I moved here the first time- we now have 2 ATM machines and 2 stoplights! I've also lived in some big places around the state, and I have to say that this little life goes a long way toward helping me be peaceful.
I've been a good child, a bad one, a college student, one of the working poor, a mother, caretaker, a divorcee, abused in a couple of relationships, a paramedic and instructor, housewife, college administrator and teacher, grad student, unemployed, out of my mind with bipolar disorder and PTSD, and hopefully now mentally stable and learning my new future. That would include being happy with my still relatively new husband of 6 years (specifically not driving him crazy), learning a new 'job' that really isn't one in the form of an antique store that we've established here with the assistance of other family that I never was allowed to really know. I've been known to weep at injustice or rant like Julia Sugarbaker, wish on a star, or drive to the beach at midnight just to stick my toes in the sand and then come back. Impulsive, you know - I'm really trying to work on that.
I've struggled with how to introduce myself elegantly, and how that would be relevant to being a KosAbility moderator, and especially how to do so that leaves y'all not disappointed in the third rate substitute that now will stand in for Kelley. But writing, and seeing that list, it strikes me that many of us struggle to define ourselves, both relative to, and apart from, every aspect of our collected experiences and disabilities, and in most cases, those are multiple and evolving roles.
I've always been more interested in learning things a mile wide and an inch deep, rather than the reverse. That's what made me a good paramedic and a sorry grad student ... it just did not suit my strengths. But it occurs to me, what one gets in KosAbility is both breadth and depth, and discussions from real people that put a very human face on what may be unfamiliar territory, language and customs, and some acquaintance with that issue that hopefully will prevent us each from making an ass of ourselves the next time that particular issue and more importantly, the person who lives it, are right in front of us.
I've also struggled with this whole 'be the moderator!' thing since Kelley and I talked (Pick me! Pick me!). I've found myself prone to 'overpromise and underdeliver', and have tried in recent years to make no promises at all, lest I disappoint. But not being expected to do anything isn't really healthy either, and rather than have a panic attack and bail before I even try, I'm going to expect that this will be a good experience, that I have the skills to manage it, and that we'll all get through it together.
So, Kelley and KosAbility peeps, I look forward to this, and y'all. Fingers crossed and FSM look upon us with good favor.
Jill
