Disabled or Extra-Ordinarily Abled?

Life Through the Eye of a Crutch

If you were presented with two crutches to aid your every day walking I wonder how you would feel?  To be told you will never walk again unaided must be devastating news.  Michelle had this news in October 2015 due to an operation that went wrong.  Her journey of accepting this unexpected sequence of events has included coming to terms with the mobility aids that keep her upright and moving. 

Try to imagine making yourself a cuppa in the kitchen and, with two crutches, trying to carry it through to the lounge.  Or pushing a shopping trolley, getting in and out of the car, negotiating steps/stairs, opening a heavy door etc.  Tricky, to say the least.

Sitting overlooking the sea at Brighthlingsea in 2015, Michelle was thinking of what she had been through and how life would never be the same again.  I thought, “Life has taken on a different perspective now” and holding one of her crutches, took this photo.  “It was a symbolic moment for me as I was trying to come to terms with what had happened”.  She then posted the photograph on Twitter with the hash tag #LifeThroughACrutchLens. 

Following this Tweet, in June 2016, she posted:
 

“Just had an email to say my #LifeThroughACrutchLens pic has been chosen to be entered into a B&W masterpiece contest 📸 https://t.co/mN0iwSwMhw”

 

Wow, what a boost that must have been! 

 

And so the journey of #LifeThroughACrutchLens began.  If you are on Twitter you can search the hash tag and find all Michelle’s wonderful imaginative photos. 

“It's a bit of creative fun, something different, another way of expressing myself and when

the feeling grabs me I’ll take a snap!  I’ve always liked taking photos but it wasn’t until my life changed completely that I’ve started taking more.  I was distraught at the things I could no longer participate in, especially yoga and the feeling the yoga mat gave me, so I started to think how could I recreate that feeling of the yoga mat and ‘just being’ in the moment?  I realised I could still take photos, and making it a ‘mindful’ activity would allow me to ‘be in the moment’ and express myself at the same time.”

Michelle then went on to help others by creating a one-off hash tag chat hour on Twitter for crutch users which was really popular.  “From that GlamSticks™ came into my life,” Michelle tells me, “it’s been a really important part of my journey and led me to where I am now (she models for GlamSticks™).  Who would have thought so much could come from a photo!”

 

Sparkler Sticks

Kate Middletoe Sock -Michelle brought these fun socks
 on the day her leg brace was fitted as a reminder to
Keep Smiling.

Son clicks a picture of Mum

In December 2016 she was fitted with a leg brace which has brought about more challenges.  But even when Michelle is in pain and has to lie on the floor to get relief her faithful friends become a tool to see life from a different angle and appreciate things she may not have noticed or took for granted before.

How beautiful the ceiling light is!

 
You can read about the equally creative way Sharon from GlamSticks™ used her disability to share her passion for brightening up dull grey crutches on my next Blog (scroll down).

Also in the next Blog you can read how owning a pair of sparkly crutches gave Michelle a boost in confidence and raised her self esteem.  So much so she tells me, “that I even wear a skirt now.” 

Who says “You can’t?”  #ThisGirlCan   and does.  A positive outlook on life, a bit of fun and lots of resting time to be still in a rushing mad world can take you places you least expect. 

 

If you have enjoyed this blog and know someone who needs mobility aids to get about, do share this with others, you never know you may just start them off on a new journey of their own.  Do leave a comment below.  Thank you.