Irascible Ink

Welcome to Irascible Ink!

This is a blog devoted to my experiences as an adult with cerebral palsy, and my year devoted to optimizing my physical fitness and living the best and most limitless life possible.

I have to admit, I’ve got some misgivings about launching this blog. I’ve spent my whole life trying–by humor, by kindness, by stubbornness, by zaniness–to get people to forget, or not to notice, that I have cerebral palsy. Not because I am particularly ashamed of it, but because I firmly believe that it is irrelevant to my essence and sovereignty as a person. Or at least, I fervently believe that it should be irrelevant–merely a biological fact, like blue eyes or brown hair, like hitchhikers’ thumb or a widow’s peak. I have lived as if the rest of the world agreed with me–as if people didn’t stare, as if the staring didn’t bother me, as if having CP didn’t impact my life in any meaningful way.

For the most part, my cunning ploy worked. Most people who have known me for any length of time will tell you that they never noticed, or quickly forgot that I have a limp at all. They were too distracted by a silly story, a big smile, or a friendly handshake. I pretty much ignored CP’s influence, and because I ignored it, most people I cared about ignored it too. It was merely a footnote in the story of my life: it’s there for reference, but no one reads it.

As an adult, I discovered the gym, and working out as a way to feel in control of my body and my life.  I felt good. Sure, I struggled in ways other people didn’t, but I was in control and beating the CP into submission.  I worked, I traveled, I made friends, I went to school, I kayaked, I boxed, and I even learned to run.  Then came a string of injuries–a tibial fracture, some SI joint debacles. Then a long struggle to find knowledgeable medical professionals willing to work with me, and to help me do more than cope with less mobility and more pain. Suddenly having cerebral palsy took up a lot of my time, my brain-power, my physical and emotional energy, and my money.The thing that I had struggled so long to keep on the periphery of my life, had suddenly become central to it.

Launching this blog means really acknowledging the fact that this biological accident matters. It means accepting that it has had weight and influence, and that the experience has shaped me as a person. It means accepting that for some people in this world, the most memorable thing about me will be the fact that I have cerebral palsy. Frankly, that’s a really scary prospect: to allow, and even encourage, people to put me in a box, categorize me, simplify me. But I’m hoping that what I have to share will be helpful to folks fighting similar battles or to parents of kids with CP who worry about how their children will fare once they age out of treatment programs. I hope too that it’ll be at least a little bit entertaining.

Please see the About section to find out about me, the mission of this blog, and the disclaimers.

Cheers!

Barry

Note: If you’ve got questions, want to register a complaint, or have suggestions for topics to be covered here, please email me at irascibleink[at]gmail.com.