A peek into the September 2024 Substack…
Filmmaker, becoming.
Poetry films, the reasons why I write, and the hidden ableism inside the anti-AI club (trust me on this one).
—from the Rhymes With Camera Substack, September 2, 2024—
… The fall brings a feeling of change that’s helping me to redefine where I’m putting my energy these days.
The siren song of composing fresh stories (which will happen because it’s my turn at the podcast) and of revising and submitting preexisting stories (one by publisher request) is becoming a bit of an earworm.
I also really want to start a new poetry film and have been shooting atmospheric bits just in case.
During these moments of transition between writing projects and creative spaces, I revisit the question of why I write at all.
The easy answer is that it’s my purpose (as described above), a reason I’ll never stray from.
I’m a writer because I can’t not write.
I find a great deal of purpose in writing, even if, on the surface, it seems like what I’ve composed is an inconsequential tale or sweet poem with no obvious intention other than to celebrate life (which, pssst, is a kind of purpose).
But, that said:
I also write with the purpose of shining a light on things that others may not always notice.
One of these such things is ableism.
Unpopular opinion: Most healthy people in the US carry around a bit of internalized ableism and may not even know it.
That means you, and it also means me.
Disability advocate Talila A. Lewis’ working definition of ableism:
A “system that places value on people’s bodies and minds based on societally constructed ideas of normalcy, intelligence and excellence.” —from “How to Talk About Disability Sensitivity and Avoid Ableist Tropes by Shruti Rajkamar, NPR, August 2022
I can definitely cop to my own egregious, if internalized, ableism before I was diagnosed with MS.
I have a friend who was diagnosed with MS prior to my own dx, and I did not do enough as a friend to understand what that meant. I’m sure I also judged her or treated her “less than” for it as well.
So today dawns and I hop into social media and what do I find? Internalized ableism fresh and ripe in a discussion today in the context of an anti-AI argument between creatives in social media. …[Read more of this and other great stuff FREE at the Rhymes With Camera Substack ]