After months of being unemployed (or underemployed, if you count sporadic freelance gigs), I finally got a full-time job. I have, for the first time in my life, gainful, permanent employment. I have achieved what I’ve been hoping for, and it feels indescribably satisfying. I feel grateful, even though I earned the job. I interviewed quite well. I conducted extensive research on the organization before coming in, and proposed plenty of ideas which the interviewers seemed to love. I dressed well, spoke confidently, and wrote a cover letter of which I can be just a little bit proud. I had the necessary qualifications, useful background knowledge, and a passionate interest in the organization’s work. In short, I did everything right. I was, I think, offered the job on merit, and the accommodations I’d need were treated as a matter of course, not a burden.
I probably shouldn’t feel grateful at all. Nondisabled people don’t generally feel lucky when they get a job. If they’re qualified, they probably feel, if not entitled, then at least deserving. There’s no question of whether they can actually do the work; it’s assumed that they can until there is evidence to the contrary. Gratitude has a place in my life—quite a significant one, really—but it’s not something I really want to be feeling right now. I’ve been lucky, yes; in the current economic climate, just about everyone struggles to find work. Still, I did the legwork and I think the organization will continue to see me as an asset.
There’s another emotion that is harder to ignore though, and I consider it far more toxic. I feel overwhelming guilt—guilt that I, who have only been searching for a handful of months, got a job so soon. I feel guilty that my supervisors have absolute faith in me, never seeming to regard my disability as anything other than a personal trait. I feel guilty that a bachelor’s degree and scant experience were enough to land me the job, when far more qualified veterans of their fields couldn’t find a job if they begged. Most of all, I feel guilty that my highly-experienced, educated, and talented disabled friends are still out of work, still searching frantically, still wondering how they will make mortgage payments.
Again, I know guilt is not something I need to feel. None of my disabled friends would dream of resenting me. They are far too happy for me to feel something so petty. They’re overjoyed that I’ve found employers who value and respect me, and they’ve all emphasized how proud I should feel. (I don’t deserve my friends, I really don’t.) If anyone, disabled or otherwise, felt envy or resentment, they’ve hidden it well. The only person feeling anything other than pride and happiness is me.
From what I’ve gathered, this is a very normal emotional place in which to be. Disabled people have often confessed guilt when good fortune befalls them, no matter how hard they worked to be successful. So much of life is governed by luck, which is why people like me can find work and other, far more worthy candidates cannot. Yes, I slaved for my degree, and yes, I have an impressive-looking portfolio, but I’m certainly not the ideal candidate for most jobs. Yet here I sit, employed and happy.
I know better, but some dark, vindictive part of me thinks, “How dare you? How dare you rejoice when your friends are struggling? How dare you tell them all about your job and how great it is when they’re attending interview after interview without success? Are you so callous that you can enjoy your good fortune when people you love aren’t so fortunate? Really, how dare you?”
I’m doing my best to ignore that malicious little voice. I know full well that my happiness in no way robs others of opportunities. I know that my success will not hamper anyone else’s, and that the most productive, sensible course of action is to throw myself into the work and support my unemployed friends as well as I can. I know all this, but knowing a thing and believing it are two very different things.
I hope that I, and others in my position, will learn to eliminate or at least ignore these feelings of guilt. They are a waste of energy, and can even lead to self-sabotage if they are strong enough. There is no need to feel guilty, and certainly no good can come of it.
If you’re out there, and if you’re listening to that nasty little voice inside your head, do your best to tune it out. You are allowed to be happy. You are allowed to feel blessed without devaluing your effort and talent. Seriously, you’re allowed. Be there for your peers, give them a shoulder to cry on, and help them in whichever ways you can. That, friends, is all you need do.
Month: September 2016
A Conversation With Keri: How fibromyalgia Changed Her Perspective On Blindness
During my first year of university, I was afflicted with brutal and frequent migraines. Since I already suffered from chronic tension pain, this new development was a devastating blow. I began to experience stroke-like symptoms; I missed classes and struggled to meet deadlines; I shuddered to think what might be wrong; and I refused to reach out.
While I have been able to detect the source of the migraines and manage them well now, I’ve never forgotten how cripplingly disabled I became while under their power. Blindness had always made life challenging, but I’d never been so completely incapassitated by broken eyes. Invisible disability, which so many people fail to understand, taught me a great deal about myself and others. I learned never to underestimate pain, or assume I knew every battle a person might be facing.
Keri suffers from chronic pain–pain that can be far more disabling than any form of blindness, and she’s graciously agreed to share her story with us.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about your life before chronic pain began to affect you?
A: It was nearing the end of September back in 2014, and my life was pretty typical. I was in my second semester of college, I had a great boyfriend, and life was good. I was happier than I had been in a long time, even though I had lost my sister just two months before. I was hopeful about my college studies, and ready for Christmas break like any other typical college student.
Q: When did you first realize something was terribly wrong?
A: It was a Wednesday night, and I was relaxing on my loveseat, and gaming after a typical day of classes. I was happy to be free for a little while from boring things like Experimental Psychology, and to be doing something I love: gaming. Suddenly the calves of both of my legs started hurting. I have a high pain tolerance, but I was almost in tears. I stood up to get a few alieve, thinking it was just some kind of bone pain or some such, but it was no bone pain I had ever had. As soon as I stood, the pain got twice as bad, and if it wasn’t for the loveseat right there, I’m sure I would have ended up on the floor. It was disabling, and the worse pain I had ever experienced. I only made it through that night quite honestly by the grace of God, and my boyfriend staying on the phone with me for a good while, even though I had woken him up. I made it to school the next day, but barely. I could hardly walk, and I felt as if my legs were being torn apart.
Q: What exactly is fibromyalgia?
A: The most common question I get is what is fibromyalgia? The best way to define it in my opinion comes from Mayo Clinic, and they define it as the following.
“Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues. Researchers believe that fibromyalgia amplifies painful sensations by affecting the way your brain processes pain signals.”
There is much research that still needs to be done, and many in the medical community or society in general think it is fake, or something they just tell you when you can’t figure it out. This is the most frustrating part.
Q: Do you feel that your condition affects how you see blindness compared to how you viewed it before?
A: I always felt that blindness was a pain in the ass, and I took the fact for granted that it wasn’t as big of a deal. When the pain started, it really sank into me how blindness isn’t as disabling as it seems. Sure I handled it well, and accepted my blindness, and it has its very frustrating parts. It is a piece of cake compared to pain.
Q: Most of us are already acutely aware of how hard it is to find work when blindness is present. Do you know to what extent your pain will limit your employment opportunities?
A: When people first meet me, or if they don’t know me well they always say things like you are so amazing, or I don’t know how you do it. If and when they find out that I suffer in pain constantly I think that perception may shift.
Q: Does being called inspirational bother you, especially when these terms are applied by people who have never dealt with what you experience every day?
A: Yes it does. I don’t feel that I’m inspiring at all. I have been dealt an unfortunate hand in life, but I make the best of it. I’m just a woman doing what it takes to survive, and make it through. I do the things I want or need to do.
Q: Do you have any advice for others going through chronic pain?
A: My best advice is to have a great support network, because you need it. You need those who can deal with the ups and downs. Find good doctors who listen to you, and who can help you find a pain management plan. Try anything you are comfortable trying, because each case is different. If you are in school be honest with your professors, or if at work, your boss. Sometimes these people can also be a great support network, and help with accommodations. The best advice is take me time, because if you don’t you can never re-centre yourself, and sometimes that really helps with the pain, especially if you are stressed.
Q: Finally, if you could say one thing to nondisabled people who don’t understand you, what would it be?
A: Have respect. You never truly know someone’s problems until you have been in their shoes. Try your best to not pretend like you know what they’ve been through when you haven’t. Be as flexible and accommodating as best you can. We are just normal people, with differences, and we should be treated like human beings.
Where's Your Dog? 