Connect with me:
“Disability is not a brave struggle or ‘courage in the face of adversity.’ Disability is an art. It’s an ingenious way to live.”
Neil Marcus
I’ve decided to embark on a journey. It’s an inward journey with self-acceptance as the destination. But I know that the journey itself will be the reward.
For a few years now, I’ve had an inner desire to write again. (I don’t write as often as I used to.) Something inside me is whispering “tell your story… share your experience… your voice deserves to be heard”. So, I started this blog to help me navigate this journey by sharing my experiences as a disabled mother. I feel a need to add my voice to the conversation. I need to understand who I am now with this new identity as “mother” and the many challenges and rewards it will bring. Writing always helped me work through challenges and realize successes. I need to share how I do things differently and I need to realize for myself that my way is okay, too.
So, while I’m writing for myself, I am also writing for that person out there looking for a voice similar to her own. Maybe my experiences can help someone else. Maybe the experiences I share are not so different from your experiences. Maybe this blog can connect us, build bridges, open eyes and hearts, create inclusivity, and discussion that can foster change and breakdown ableism. I’m trusting the journey and hope you will join me.
As I share my journey as a mother with Cerebral Palsy, please remember that these are MY experiences. I do not speak on behalf of anyone else with a disability or with Cerebral Palsy — all disabilities are experienced differently (and space should be created for each).
My hope in sharing my voice and experience as a mother is to create a community of acceptance and understanding for other disabled parents. To create a space for yet another voice to be added to the conversation.
Who is “The Triangle Girl”?
The Triangle Girl is the main character of a story I wrote at the age of 6. As I don’t remember much about my thought process behind writing the story, one can deduce that it embodies how I felt as a young girl with Cerebral Palsy. We also have the same initials, which is a remarkable coincidence (Triangle Girl / Taryn Green)!
There was a girl. She was made of triangles. When she came home, her mom laughed because she was made of triangles. Her dad laughed, too. But her sister didn’t.
When she went to bed, she prayed to God to make her look like the other people.
When she woke up, she looked in the mirror and she was the same as everyone else.
Throughout my life, I keep rewriting and re-imagining this story. I have since turned it into two short films: one created for a women’s art initiative called Envisioning New Meanings Of Disability and Difference (2008); another created for a National Film contest, FilmPossible, that won first prize in 2010. See below to watch both films.
The thrilling thing is that I keep recreating her — through this blog, my social media, and more exciting projects on the horizon. Stay tuned.
The Triangle Girl Blog 