After some time on the affordable housing waiting list, last year, a fantastic apartment became available. It is more luxurious than I deserve and perfect in almost every conceivable way, except...it's on the top floor of the building. As a wheelchair user, all the what ifs and possible emergency situations have been playing on repeat in the back of my mind; like horrible elevator music on a never- ending loop...until last week. Heavy rains inundated the elevator shafts of my building, leaving them out of service for several days.

Rearranging my schedule, meetings, support services, and regular errands became my singular focus. But how do I get to necessary medical appointment? You all the fire department and have a team of firefighters carry you and your 400lb chair down six flights of stairs.

Check…a fear no longer!

Here's the thing though; people with disabilities and their loved ones spend inordinate amounts of time negotiating simple tasks like getting out of the house, every… single… day! This incident reminded me just how much time and energy I spend getting from one end of the day to the other. Dealing with what's right in front of me occupies a phenomenal amount of brain space.

Sometimes I really wonder when people call disabled people lazy? Do they have any idea how much work the minutia of life takes? Even for those of us who are lucky enough to have great support, "crip time" is real.

I wish, with a burning fire, that as community we all prioritized, invested in, and advocated to make the bare basics that many take for granted available to everyone: housing, food, healthcare, transportation, etc. In addition to convening, studying, writing, and talking about what big picture best lives might look like; we need to be devoting equal amounts of time and energy addressing access to these basics. Why? They are the foundation on which best lives are built. People, no matter their circumstance, innately know how to be free. Remember and imagine the brilliance that has and will continue to come from people when they don’t have to spend so much energy on staying alive! I think of this often for all of us- it keeps me up at night!

Imagining a bold future for myself, the people I care deeply about, and our community as whole, feels impossible most of the time. It's also true in many cases, that we are more wildly imaginative than our nondisabled peers. Imagination is one of the beautiful tools we employ to survive; often subconsciously. Yet, when thinking about futures discretely, consciously, with purpose and intention; I struggle mightily. Instead of imagining the possibilities that might lie ahead, I'm frequently consumed...ridiculously so...on the here and now only. And as a result, I get stuck there; there's no room for future planning.