Today’s Health Activist Writing Month Challenge prompt: What has been the highlight of your health activist journey? We want to hear all about it, perhaps a conference, a podcast or meeting a fellow HA. What made this experience so special?
I feel so blessed. There are, truly, too many highlights to count. Every single day I am lucky enough to be reminded of why I do this work and why I fight hard.
In April this year, I was able to attend HealtheVoices and meet some of my favorite people in the whole world in person. We got to connect and spend time together, learning and teaching each other so much.
Throughout this year, I have been lucky enough to be able to attend several conferences and, whether it is a part of the conference or not, I’ve been able to meet some amazing people across our nation (and in Toronto!). Some of these people are my closest friends and getting to meet them in person means all the world to me.
Going to these conferences and meeting each other gives us a support system. Believe it or not, fighting for others or ourselves or whoever is hard. The work health activists do is not easy work. It is emotionally and sometimes physically demanding. Having a network of people who get it – especially on an intersectional level (LGBT+ subset, etc) – really helps. We help each other, whether that’s due to increased disease activity or emotional burnout or politics or even just needing a friendly ear to listen.
Knowing that we can help each other in the work we do and how much we appreciate each other means a lot. That’s really the highlight for me, especially for not really having a family (as far as parents, etc, go). This semi-orphan appreciates all the love and support I can get.
I am also thankful for the opportunities I have received. I am excited for 2017 and thankful for 2016.