Help Give the IAMC a Chance

Readers, 

April 3rd was one of the most difficult times in my life, when it comes to job security, because I was told that due to grant funding, the IAMC (Illinois Association for Microboards and Cooperatives) funds were cut.  It is totally unfair to people who just want to live quality lives, like myself, and people who support them to do so. On my ride to a PATH facilitation training, one that I feared would be my last, I was reminded of a song by Tim McGraw. The song is called "Live Like You Were Dying." It was then that I knew I couldn't take my personal emotions into training. It reminded me that even though I had these feelings, I had to give it my all, and pretend like we weren't losing the funding at all. Because if I didn't think positively, I would then bring my negativity into the room. After that first day of training instead of getting upset about the situation I decided to take action and have my friends and family sign the petition to reinstate this ever-so-important organization. While I was encouraging them to do so I realized the heart of why I was upset.  It was not because of the money.  It was because what we do as an organization is not just work to us it is life changing. This is why I need your help to educate people in Illinois why this funding and work important.  So do your part if you believe people with disabilities should be able to live with freedom of choice.  Please make sure you sign this petition. Also,  call your local representative to the Illinois House and ask them to vote FOR Senate Bill 274. It will restore cuts to human services like the IAMC. Those who have done it already- Thank you!   As Helen Keller said alone we can do so little together we can do so much! 

PETITION: https://www.change.org/p/illinois-governor-illinois-state-house-illinois-state-senate-reinstate-iamc-illinois-association-of-microboards-cooperatives?recruiter=305902&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_term=des-md-no_src-reason_msg

Love, 

Jessi

See What Happens When You Don't Give Up!

Dear Readers: As I promised, I told you last month that I was going to discuss my goals for my work.  I have spent the entire month trying to be as productive as I can, and really hone in on future plans for work. It is a great feeling to love dance so much that it doesn't feel like work. I am always thinking about how to make physically integrated dance more mainstream and accessible to more people through my work. I am going to be in a piece with other dancers and choreographed by my dance partner, Maddy this coming summer. I don't have more specifics to report now but my mind is always working and I'll keep you posted.   In terms of my speaking career, I am working with my Mom and my speech coach to develop a mission statement to know I exactly want to accomplish as a speaker.  This journey has been difficult and confusing, but all the same, rewarding.  Now I see a clearer vision of my next steps and goals.    Being a Project Assistant for the IAMC is still an valuable position for me. I meet important people from around the state who are advocating for the disability community and I am learning skills to pay forward. I am looking forward to A Day with David Wetherow: Rediscovering Your Personal Power. Check out iambc.org Upcoming Events for details and join us at the end of April.  At the beginning of last month I was experiencing pain that was so intense that I was like, “How am I going to get over this barrier?”  I am very happy to say, that even with all this chaos of trying to figure out my life and my career, my pain level has decreased, thanks to my dedication to dance, NIA and yoga. Finally I would like to end with something else that I have found extremely rewarding.  A few months ago I talked about a breakthrough that I had in dance.  Just the other day I had another one.  In dance you have what is called a working leg and a standing leg.  I was in modern dance class and was beginning to feel, for the first time in my life, that I can feel grounded on my standing leg.  I felt so grounded in fact, that I felt I could lift one of my legs and keep the other one down.  This was a HUGE accomplishment for me, because when you have CP, your body often does not do what you want it to do.  When it does, it is so magical and you feel like you can take on the world!  I wish you good luck on any new goals you have been working on.   Happy Spring :-) Jessi

Goals Setting better late than never

In my writing class, one of my prompts was how I view being 65 – which I found overwhelming.  However, with the start of a New Year I know exactly what goals I want to accomplish in 2015.

            In the area of dance I want to continue making dances with my dance partner and making sure that more people are aware of physically integrated dance because as you all know I’m extremely passionate about this.

            My second goal for 2015 is to go through life with less pain.  With the start of 2015 I’ve had new complications come up as a result of my cerebral palsy.  I had this goal even before I knew about the complications. My dance partner introduced me to a technique called Nia.  It is a combination of dance, Tai Chi and yoga.  So my hope is that with the combination of dance and adding more yoga into my life and nia that my pain will become more manageable.  

            My third goal is probably the hardest one to accomplish financially, but I would love to travel to a far place with my spiritual community because I feel that in this setting we would become an even closer community and get to know each other that much more.

             My last goal for 2015 is to continue to pamper myself as I did this holiday season.  I feel that in today’s society we don’t give ourselves time to just enjoy ourselves; so I plan to budget for time and money to go to the movies with friends and family; and to go to the nail salon to get my nails done.  The people at the nail salon and at the movies know me by name. It feels so good to go into a place where people know your name.  I even applied for a job at the beginning of the year.  I didn’t get it, but at least now, more people in Desplaines know me; and I feel that is an accomplishment within itself.

            So my question for you is, what are your goals for 2015?  If you find it overwhelming to think about your goals for the year; go through your life like I did and everything you do.  Then it becomes easier to create goals and dreams for yourself.   Good luck and Happy New Year!  -Jessi

Ps .   if you notice I did not talk about any goals having to do with my work on purpose because that is the focus of my next post.  

A Magical Evening

Imagine yourself on the fourth night of Hanukah in a large room with lots of Menorahs (or Hanukiot) on long tables. The candle holders are different shapes, sizes, colors and ages. Some have been around for years and passed down from generations and others are brand new and were just bought this year.  What I just described to you, was my first experience celebrating Hanukah at Oak Park Temple but they have been celebrating this way for 150 years . This year there were about 150 Menorahs brought by families and scattered throughout the sanctuary. The lights went out and the sight was magical!    When the lights in the room were on, all the menorahs looked different but when the lights went out, all we could see was the flickering lights on each of the 150 menorahs and we all chanted the blessings in unison. The lights were illuminated and we were all together as a community, celebrating the miracle of Hanukah. At the service the Rabbi talked about two universal messages. The first one is that everyone has a light in them and they might just need help finding it or letting it shine. It is our job as a community to help one another do so. The second one is that several times in our history, people were tempted to give up on each other but when they didn't, miracles would happen. 

When you think about light this holiday season, remember our ancestors and how they didn't give up. They always had a glimmer of hope. Finally, don't forget that you have an inner light to shine and share with the world. So as the lights of my menorah go out on the 8th night of Hanukah while celebrating with family and friends, I wish you a year of peace, love and happiness.
Write to you in 2015,
Jessi 

PS. I can't wait to participate in this tradition next year!  

Welcome to Walgreens and Welcome to My Life

I decided to wait a month to write again because I kept thinking of different ways to write about my experiences, but wasn’t happy with it. I was thankful for these opportunities but didn’t know how to say it. About a month or so ago, I was at my Walgreens job that I’ve had for almost 11 years now. Frankly, I felt like I was bored with it. You see, at my other jobs, I feel like I can make an impact on other people’s lives, but this one felt monotonous, until one day, when I said my usual greeting, “Welcome to Walgreens,” and the man replied, “Thank you, it feels good to be welcomed somewhere.” From that day forward, I have looked at my job differently. Though it is simple, I now believe that I am making a difference in people’s lives even if it’s just a little bit. 

Now, you’re probably wondering, why did I say “welcome to my life” as part of the tile of this post? I said this because I was at yoga class, and I had a breakthrough with my body. Something that I’ve been trying to do for years in dance finally clicked. This was a good lesson for me in not giving up on my body, because I believed I kind of did. I just thought that due to my disability, it’s something I could never train my body to do the proper way. So now, I feel like I am truly a part of me.

Something like this is a perfect example of how you’re never too old for a breakthrough, disability or not. I am proud to say that, because of this breakthrough, I can finally do a high release properly. How do I know that it’s right now? Number 1, my yoga teacher said that it was. Number 2 and more importantly, before he had even said it, I knew it was right because it felt right. Whenever you aren’t sure about something, just go with it because it might lead to a breakthrough, or to something that makes others happy. 

Your dedicated dancer and employee,

Jessi

Beyond Today

Hi Readers,
I know this is very rair for me to write two post in the month, but I came across two circumstances that I  thought were totally blog worthy, and they relate to each other. 
So here they are.
One day last week, Micheal's family who was my coach and friend for the first two years of me living on my own, brought some of his books to the lobby because they wanted to help keep his memory and legacy alive and most importantly his mission to help others with disabilities. 
To learn more about Michael, and his book go to my post and title Unforgotton Hero. 
It all started when my assistant went down for a break and said there were a bunch of books in the lobby in memory of Micheal. I decided to grab one for myself because mine was torn up. I was so happy it was like a gift was given to me. Once again and I felt like he was still apart of the building. Then a few days later, I got in a disagreement with someone at the purple pad. I was having a very difficult and stressful day, but then I thought of the books. What do I want to be remembered for?
Do I want to be remembered  as person who cannot express her needs?
Or do I want to be remembered as a eloquent speaker, who helps others?
Do I want to be remembered as someone who always complains about her day to day struggles?
Or do I want to be remembered as someone that shacks it off and keeps dancing?
What do I want my legacy to be?
Just these simple positive thoughts, made the whole rest of my week a lot better, and that got me thinking again, even Michael's spirit is talking to me and telling me, the appropriate direction to turn. 
This pass weekend, an example of legacy came up again. 
My brother and I were in a corn maze at an apple orchard. He was very helpful to me, and with him you never know whether he's going to be helpful or not. But it was very cool. It was like he didn't have a disability. He helped me through the narrow spots, without being frustrated or complaining to much. He took the leaves out of my chair when he noticed that they were getting stuck.When I told him Brian we need to slow down because my chair is stuck, he pushed me out right away without any hesitation. 
When my chair malfunctioned at the very end of the corn maze, he waited patiently for me to fix it before going on any further. The only time, he went ahead of me, during the maze was if there was an easier way for my chair to get through. 
He did this a couple of times, but each time, he returned with a smile and said okay I got this. The experience of the corn maze was something we will never forget. 
This is what I believe, my brother wants to be remembered for a kind, compassionate, person who likes a challenge and a bit of adventure. 
I hope that more people will get to see these sides of him because they are what make him very special to me.
This is what I believe he wants to be remembered for. 
So my question to you is: What do you want to be remembered for? What is your legacy?
Happy to be out of the corn maze, safe and sound at the purple pad.
Jessi

A Fresh Start

I took a month off writing because I've had alot of thoughts going on in my head, and I wanted to take a break to reflect on them before writing about them. 
In this post I will discuss different philosophy's that I have developed over the past year. As a result of me living on my own for six years .
The first one is "Never Break Tradition. 
For years and years, my friend Paula has been visiting me every summer and I have been going to her place every New Years. But this year, the week that she was suppose to come in, was the week after Tori moved out and things were just crazy. So I told her to come two weeks later, which was Labor Day weekend. I had everything planned out and things finally calmed down here, so I thought it would be perfect. But the Wednesday before, she was suppose to arrive the thing that locked me in the car, broke down and therefor that means I had to use the straps that normally lock her in when she is visiting. We were both devastated, but one day I had an idea. I was going to tell her, that she had a package coming on Saturday and she had to be home at a certain time to receive it. Then Saturday came along, and my car broke down. Shoot another conflict in my plans, but luckily we were able to fix it and I have a gullible enough friend, and she believes that packages come on Sunday, so when I told her that it would be a day late, she didn't even question it. Hour by hour, that day I was telling her from the car, how far away the package was and even though, my visit was not even for 24 hours, we were so thrilled to see each other and not break tradition. It was something we will never forget and a great way to end my year. 
I say My Year because when you are Jewish, you have two New Years, but the Jewish one is really not about partying it is about reflecting on the year as a whole and how you can make your life as well as other people's lives around you better. We talk alot about improving ourselves. And that is what made me come up with these philosophy's. 
My second philosophy, fits right into religion.
I'm not telling you what religion to be, or how to believe I'm just telling you that at the end of last year meaning December, I was really struggling to find meaning in my life. Everything felt scattered, like a bunch of puzzle pieces. I believe, I even wrote about them in another post and  realized that maybe going back to Synagogue would not necessarily give me the answers I needed, but give me strength. 
Since last December, even though this has been a difficult year for me, I notice that on the weeks that I go to Temple wether it is my new ethics class, or just plain services, I feel stronger and more together. I feel like it's easier to take on the week. 
My advise to you is to Find Something That Gives You Strength and Stick To It. 
My third philosophy is the hardest one yet and one that I would be working on all year to overcome. But with the spiritual strength, my love of dance, supportive Family and Friends I'm determined to make this one happen because it will make my whole life alot easier.
I am very grateful for what I have in my life, but when there is something going on, that I really don't agree with, it is hard for me to be grateful for what I have in my life while excepting what is. Each day I will examine the day and try to find away to make myself happy, to that I can except what is.
I know this won't happen overnight and that is why I'm giving myself a whole year to work on what right now seems like a overwhelming goal. 
If you have an overwhelming goal that you would like help with, I would be more than happy to help you as well because I know you will help me with mine. It is one of the hardest things that I have ever done, but I think now that I am 28 I am ready to take on this challenge. I also feel like I can take on this challenge because I was given the birthday of October 2nd, which is around the Jewish New Year which makes me feel like I have a double New Year. 
As Helen Keeler say's "Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much."
Much Love, Jessi