Sometimes I Forget that my friend Jen and I are the same age. She is one of the wisest souls that I know and I am so lucky to have come across her in my life. It's the old tale of adjoining handicapped parking spaces our freshman year of college and a god awful professor to hate... and the rest is history.
She and I have been working on a project with Villanova university about invisible illness and body image for the last few weeks and it has been an absolute delight to get to spend so much time chatting with her. She has been a real live health activist for quite some time now and you can't help but be inspired to get involved when she is around. There is something about her that pulls out the activist in all of us and it is one of the reasons I love her dearly. Today while chatting with her she came out with this little quote below and I felt like it was something I would have heard in school when recognizing someone who was badass enough to deserve their own bank holiday. She said, "Don't quantify activism. Activism is measured in reach, not volume, and not even intent." and I was immediately moved! She is completely right and I plan to use that as my new motto when it comes to the health activist side of me. I am not just a girl playing artist and activist anymore in her room, but I am a woman out there living it and doing it; sometimes I just need a little reminder :)
Oh Bridget,
ReplyDeleteFirst - love the pic:) SO very you!
Second - you flatter me, and far too much. You give me far too much credit and yourself not enough. You're the first person I remember meeting who was really my peer and a chronic patient; you've had a bigger impact on me just by existing (and SMILING all the time) that we probably even realize. It's an honor to be your friend:)