The work in my Mastermind program continues. 

Part of our tasks has been to think about what we write and why. (I wrote a bit about this in a May blog post. Click here if you missed it.)

This week, however, I am sharing two photos with you as another example of what I write and why.

The photo shows my seventeen-year-old son and me parasailing, a week-and-a-half-ago during our family trip to Oahu. We calmly dangled 1000 feet above the Pacific Ocean. We talked and marveled at the incredible view below us and around us, noticing the quiet and the sense of peace we felt being that high up.

On that day, in those moments, my body was physically strong enough to climb aboard the boat, maneuver into the harnesses, and smile and wave at those down on the boat looking up at us. 

Yet back at the hotel, my backpack held my blue disabled parking placard. And when I left Los Angeles and arrived in Honolulu I received wheelchair assistance at both airports. (I also had wheelchair assistance at both airports for our return flight.)

Both situations are true. 

I may fit the more narrow, stereotypical idea of a disabled woman when someone sees me sitting in a wheelchair at the airport. 

But, I’m still a disabled woman, even when I’m gliding through the air, with a multi-colored parachute open behind us. 

And that is why I write — to demonstrate there is no definitive, one-and-done definition of disability.

Friends, I’m curious. Have any of you gone parasailing? Where? What was your experience like? Please feel free to share in the comments!