When empathy and understanding are not part of our daily life, we suffer.
But social media has filled in that chasm and it can provide a lifeline.
While pregnant, I started to followElsie Larsons entry into motherhood on Instagram.
Larson is known for her popular DIY blog on A Beautiful Mess and for the app A Color Story.
She adopted a girl with albinism from China named Nova.
They painted together, giggled together they were what I wanted to look like with my little girl.
I didnt know what typical people were doing there I saw a lot of pictures of food.
All of these people are connected by disability.
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Its an amazing supportive community.
They truly understand your struggles, victories, frustrations, excitements.
It becomes normal, Marquart tells me.
People get used to seeing other people in wheelchairs or with missing limbs.
Images like these are influential.
Karlis Podnieks, a paraplegic basketball player, was inspired by photos he saw online.
As an athlete, I always have had examples, he says.
So I venture to be that example now.
Instagram gives me a way bigger platform to be an example for a bigger audience.
A bipolar woman posted on Instagram that she hated taking her medicine.
Of course, some people with disabilities are unable to jump into the internet at all.
She sent me a self-harm picture of her wrist with the words: Look what I did.
I told her that was unacceptable and if she did it again Id have to report her.
When guys venture to hit on me on Instagram, I ignore them at first.
But if they continue, I block them.
Once I started a conversation about what to do about insomnia.
People were chiming in with all the things they do to sleep.
But one man who was mad that I wasnt following him back wrote, Try a shotgun.
Sometimes people ask for my cocktail of medications so they can be as stable as I am.
Like Karlis Podnieks, Ive wanted to be an example for others since finding this diverse support community.
I dont want to be a victim.
My digital spaces help me feel that Im protecting myself in an otherwise hostile environment.
With every image on Instagram, Larson and Nova normalize it.
Were obsessed with Novas sunglasses, her bell-bottoms, and her three stuffed pigs, all named Piggy.
During the terrible days of a med change, I removed myself from my daughter for her safety.
I turned to Instagram for support.
I didnt post happy photos to pretend it wasnt happening.
I posted thoughts and images of how I felt in a bipolar middle the middle of a potential relapse.
I have found not only friends on Instagram but collaborators as well.
A comment on a picture or a direct message starts a dialogue.
I cant wait for everyone to catch up and learn from us.
After all, the moon is within our reach.
