Hello From My Couch (Take Two)

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my second attempt at starting a blog… the first time I started this was a few weeks after my state was put into quarantine. I was given the opportunity to work from home, but I found myself needing to get some thoughts out of my head. I felt like I finally had a reason and some time to share some of these thoughts with the world, but then the world became a complicated post… and some of the things I wanted to write about seemed silly. I had also chosen a writing space that didn’t work for what I was hoping to make the Blog look like, so I dropped it.

Fast forward to today, in the weeks since I wrote that first post so much has changed for me personally and for so many people. Many I know and so many others I don’t know, but with WordPress’s will help achieve my goals and desire to turn 2020 into something positive and meaningful, I vow to start again, and this time I will not drop the ball. Also, a note, because the first time I tried this I only managed my intro and then vanished into the night very few people read it (and I don’t blame them), but a lot of the Intro things I wrote then are still valid today, will be true tomorrow, and most will be true forever. So please forgive the fact that a little bit of this is going to be “reused” from that first failed attempt, but I promise that everything after this is new!

A quick little list of things you can expect to read on my Blog… This isn’t going to be one sort of thing blog… we aren’t going to talk about one thing always. We are going to talk about many things, and those things may change as the world changes. The general theme behind it is is this “Always find the light in the Darkness” This is a motto I feel like I have always had but never realized I had until the events of the last few months.

 With that motto in mind, I hope to cover such topics as; thoughts about the world, having a disability, life in general, my pets, family, video games, board games, Cooking, and anything else that I think people may enjoy reading. If any of these topics pique your interest, I hope you will take some time to read, and I also hope that this Blog will make you think or help make you smile during this crazy time.

About me

I’m 28 years old and grew up in Wisconsin. Nearly six years ago, I started a whole new journey away from all of my family and friends for a job in Texas, working with the City Year program! This is a program where you work in a school for a year, helping students who may need a little extra support. I was selected to work with 6th graders and support them in English Language Class. Not only did I get to move across the country, I got to work with some of the most amazing kids and excellent partner teachers. I hope to go into this experience a little more in detail in a future blog.

During this year, I also fell in love with the city of San Antonio! I found out it was the home I was always meant to live in, and I knew that I would have to find another job so that I wouldn’t have to return to Wisconsin. I quickly landed my dream job at a non-profit and have gotten to work there for nearly four years and wouldn’t change it for the world. Much like City Year I hope to share with you how this non-profit has helped me grow into the person I am today and makes a difference in the lives of people of all ages and abilities.

So you may have noticed how I very causally listed one of my topics as “life with a disability” and didn’t stop and explain. Don’t worry I’m not going to mention it in this Blog and leave you wondering what I mean. Though I don’t plan to tell you everything here and now there will be other blogs where I go into more in-depth details or tell stories about my life that will involve my disability because it is an integral part of my life (but it is not the ONLY part). It’s important to know that I don’t see my disability as a bad thing. That said, assuming I haven’t lost you, continue reading below to learn a little more about what makes me who I am.

 I have cerebral palsy, which affects all of the different muscles of my body and makes me unable to walk. My cerebral palsy has never stopped me from achieving my goals, dreams, or anything I set my mind too. When I was 21 years old, I decide what I wanted more than ANYTHING for my birthday was a tattoo. If you’re going to get technical, it was two tattoos with the words I have always lived my life by…not the motto above. That’s new.

“Tell Me I Can’t, I will show you I Can”. 

Unknown

Above the Can’t statement, you will find a caterpillar (think of the hungry caterpillar), and above the can, there is a butterfly. The fact that a caterpillar changes into a butterfly is fascinating in itself scientifically, but the symbolic message it portrays for me is special. For my whole life, people have told me what I can’t do, and I have spent my entire life proving them wrong and showing what I can do. I was the caterpillar (and still am from time to time when faced with a new challenge), but eventually, I will over come the challenge and once more turn into a beautiful butterfly.

Right now, I’m a caterpillar, but that’s okay! I think by starting this at a time in my life where things will be a bit different will give me that much more desire to pursue this little dream I’ve had in the back of my head since I was thirteen and tried to write short stories, but was too scared to share them with the world. I can’t promise you short stories, but I hope to bring you something worth reading, and I hope we can learn and grow together.

My goal is to post at least once a week, but there may be a few surprise blogs or ‘mini’ blogs as things come up in the world! I hope you join me on the couch next week, where we will go in-depth and look at some of the different topics above.

Note I will be keeping the comments section open for now, but I want this to be a safe space for anyone to share positive things or ask meaningful questions. If there happens to be a lot of negative comments or rudeness I will simply turn them of.

Please join me on this adventure. I can’t say where it will take us, but I hope, whatever happens, we will have some fun, learn some things, explore others, and grow.

Thanks for joining me on my couch!

Kella