Hello Everyone!
It is I, the short, blonde, otter-loving Laura, back again and better than ever. If you're reading this, maybe you've been here before, maybe this is your first post. If these apply to you, welcome back, and welcome! I am so super glad to have you here.
So, after almost a year of no posts, I went back over my posts, and I realized, I was complaining a lot, which was NOT the intention of this blog. This blog is meant to educate, inform, and spread the word on a condition that does not have the best media coverage. So, think of this post as a re-vamp, re-focus, and renewal. I think this blog has a lot of potential, and I'm ready to give it the effort it deserves.
Anyway, hi again. A lot has happened since 6/22/17, yes, you read that right, 6/22/17 is the last time I posted. I finally gave up the red hair, met an AMAZING person who I wish to share my dreams with, got a new job, started grad school, bought a car of my own, and got a little older too. But the most important thing that has happened to me, is that I have been shifting my perspective on life. If any of you know me personally, you would probably describe me as cheery, hardworking, goofy, and stuff like that. Well, now I'm a big old grump!
Just kidding.
I would say that I'm still positive, goofy, a little messy, hardworking, and fun loving. But the most important thing is, I don't focus on the things I cannot change. Dwarfism is something I cannot change. Worrying about it, griping about it, and complaining about it is not going to change it. Hiding behind dwarfism and the problems I face because of it isn't going to make it better. As I said before, this blog is meant to inform. A big journey that I'm on is the journey to loving myself. It's not easy. I have the issues that plague everyone: doughnuts taste too good, my clothes are getting smaller (I swear it's them getting smaller!) things are expensive, and money is hard to work for some days. But in addition to those "normal" problems, my daily journey is a little (no pun intended) different from the average person (Yes, we still try to use the word average rather than normal).
This has been a tough thing to both recognize, and work on. I always thought that I was ignoring dwarfism, and I even thought that this method would work for me. Let's say that your finger got a cut on it, and it got infected. Not your fault, things happen, we scrape our fingers all the time. But now it's infected. Are you really going to ignore that? Well, it's a little different, but the idea is the same. Something about me is unchangeable, and I can't really ignore it. Some disabilities are able to be hidden pretty well. Most people who are "hiding" these disabilities are able to acknowledge, adjust, and move on with their lives. I realize I've been allowing dwarfism to creep into my life and take over. Not in the ways you would think. I still push my residents around just the same as anyone, I participate in average activities of daily living/working. So maybe from an outside perspective, it looks like I'm getting along just fine, and that's what I hope you see :)
For the most part, I am getting along just fine, and it took some work to get there. I don't really like to go to public places. Just like anyone else, I want to go in and go out with minimal setbacks. Do I feel like there's a neon sign that is 3 feet taller than me saying "hey, this is different!" well, yes but that isn't actually true.
I prefer to go to places where I'm comfortable and where I can reach the majority of what I need on my own, but we all want independence.
We can't blame people who don't know what they're doing. We can't be upset over unintentional actions. If I was to get upset over every time someone looked at me and took a second (and third, and fourth...) glance at me, I'd be wasting a lot of the precious time I have here on this earth.
What I'm trying to get at is, dwarfism is a very real thing that I cannot hide, and I never will be able to hide it. So I gotta own it. I gotta be me. Maybe I won't say "I'm Laura, I'm 24, blonde, a fan of people over the age of 65, and a dwarf", but it'll definitely be in the next sentence. With the help of my AMAZING support system consisting of family, friends, awesome counselor, amazing life partner, and an awesome aspiring therapy dog, I'm doing just fine. I'm not all the way there yet, but life's a journey, and I've packed my bags to explore it.
So welcome to my blog of self-exploration and dwarfism!
I'm so glad you've chosen to come on this journey with me, and I hope you'll stay for the whole ride.
Peace, tremendous love, and otters
Laura
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