Hi Everyone, today’s guest post is from Chelsea. I met her on Facebook. Please be sure to check out and follow her on social media.
- What is your name (or blog/channel name)? My name is Chelsea.
- Age? I’m 32 years old; I’m originally from Texas but have relocated to a new state, nearly two years ago now, as I needed a fresh start and a new environment that would allow me to thrive.
- Who has inspired you for your blog or YouTube channel? : There isn’t just one person that’s inspired my writing–in fact, my own life experiences have inspired my writing. I’ve been writing for myself in a journal format since I was in elementary school because for me, doing so has always been an outlet. I was abused by numerous biological relatives for years, yet writing was the one thing I could always count on. Because when human beings would hurt me and otherwise let me down, writing has been there, as a faithful, constant friend. And the thing about writing, is that writing doesn’t abuse you; writing doesn’t invalidate your feelings; it welcomes you with open arms, 24/7, no matter what it is you are feeling, thinking or going through.
4. Besides writing or making YouTube videos what do you like to do in your spare time? Besides writing, some other things I love doing in my spare time are reading sci-fi/fantasy books, LGBTQ-themed books, books on atheism or self-help books. I also love listening to most kinds of music; though, right now, a few of my favorite artists/musicians to listen to are Zedd (who creates Electronic Dance Music or EDM for short) Kehlani who sings R&B and Billie Eilish who sings a mix of genres. While there are probably songs from every genre of music that I love, there are definitely particular music genres I’m not really a fan of as a whole; those are country, heavy metal, opera and classical. That being said, I also love being with my friends/other loved ones and learning how others express their creativity.
5. Name a bad habit that you have? A bad habit I have is biting my nails; I usually do this when I’m nervous, bored or really stressed out.
6. Name your best quality? My best quality of mine would be my brutal honesty; because people don’t ever have to worry about where they stand with me. They know that I give good advice/advice that I make sure to lead by example with. But mostly, I love my brutal honesty because it shows folks that I’m trustworthy and will always tell them the truth, even if the truth can be hard to hear.
7. If you could interview anyone living or dead who would that be and why? : If I could interview anyone dead or alive, I’d choose the Obama Family; I’d choose these folks because I love many of the things they stand for, and they seem very down-to-earth. It would be interesting to be able to pick their brains and to get to know them as the fellow human beings that they are.
8. What is your college major/minor? My current major in college is sociology. I chose this as my major because I’m passionate about helping people heal. I’m also a firm believer that if everyone in the world were in therapy, the world as a whole would be a much different place. In my younger days, one of the colleges I attended was Austin Community College.
9. Why did you choose the title of your blog or YouTube channel? : The tagline of my blog is: my life living with multiple disabilities/navigating through trauma. : I started blogging publicly a little over two years ago now. Someone who’d come across an article I’d written and liked it, was the one who’d suggested I start blogging publicly. This person got in contact with me and told me that they thought the things I have to say are valuable and given that this person was involved in a charity that was geared towards educating sighted people about how blind/visually impaired folks live/function independently, I knew that taking their advice would be wise. And as they say, the rest is history…or is that HERstory, since I’m a woman; hahahaha.
10. Where do you see yourself in five years? It’s near impossible for me to think about where I see myself in five years because my disabilities and chronic health conditions have changed my life in ways I never would’ve thought were possible. The main way in which these things have changed my life, is through causing me to slow down and listen to whatever my body is telling me at any given time. Like most people, I too allowed society to influence the way I viewed how my life should look to others. I forced myself to go to college as a young adult, simply because I didn’t think I had any other choices. But it’s only been within these last couple years that I’ve learned that taking care of myself is, and should be, my top priority. And so quite frankly, living with these chronic/life-threatening health conditions has helped me see that for me/my body, taking things an hour at a time or most times one day at a time, is the best way to operate. Because my body does not, and will not, meet what I think is an unrealistic and harmful standard, that society tries to force onto people, anyway. So if I’m here on this earth in five years, that in itself will be a gift.
12. What is the name/cause of your visual impairment (Or other disabilities that you may have)? : I was born with Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP); I was born at 26 weeks and weighed two pounds, three ounces. I had to be given too much oxygen at birth, just to be kept alive…and that’s what ultimately made me become blind. I had some usable eyesight up until I was 18…but then I became totally blind. Just to clarify though, when I say I used to have usable eyesight, I don’t mean that I could see good enough not to use a white cane. What I do mean, is that I could see out of the corner of each eye, where my nose meets each eye. So I’d have to literally put things close to my eyes to somewhat see them. But honestly, it’s bittersweet for me to tell people that I used to have some eyesight because then they want a full explanation about what I could/couldn’t see…and that becomes so draining. So I’ve found it’s much easier for me to just say I’ve been totally blind for years…but had a bit of vision as a child. I find that that explanation is sufficient enough for the majority of folks. My Cerebral Palsy was also something I was born with, that was due to my bio mom’s drug/alcohol use while I was in her womb. I was also born with Hydrocephalus which was also due to my bio mom’s drug/alcohol use when I was in her womb.
13. How do your visual impairment (or other disabilities that you may have) effect you on a daily basis? My disabilities/chronic health conditions affect me on a daily basis by isolating me, for one thing. This past fall semester for example, I’d initially planned to go back to school, after having taken off in the summertime. But then it turned out that health issues came up in the fall that were shunt-related…and so I had to take off from school. And when I’m not able to go to school and feel like a productive member of society, that can be very isolating. But what truly helps me through dark times like this, is the fact that I use an iPhone and a Mac computer, both of which have speech output software built-in to them which speaks aloud what is visually on the computer’s or phone’s screen. And having access to these things makes my life much fuller and brighter than it would be without these things, that’s for sure. Because both my Mac as well as my iPhone, allow me to engage with the world through Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social media. Both of these devices literally give me the world, when I sometimes don’t feel like the world has me.
14. What do other people feel about your visual impairment (or other disability that you may have)? What others think about my disabilities/chronic illnesses varies from person-to-person. But to be honest, I don’t care what folks think, for the most part. I used to care deeply about how others saw me and I even felt at one time this deep need to be accepted by society. But to be honest, the more I live as my confident, unapologetic and authentic self, the more I’m truly accepted by others.
15. If you had to give one piece of advice to other about having a visual impairment (or other disability that you may have) what would that be? If I could give advice to others living with disabilities/chronic health conditions, I would first encourage them to be unapologetic about who they are. And then the advice I’d give them, would be to tell them to love on themselves more…and don’t pay anyone any mind who tries to tell you not to do you. Because ultimately, each individual is responsible for his or herself…and only each individual knows what would make him, her or them, happy.
16. Where can other people find you on social media? (Please list and provide the links)?
My website can be found at: http://chelseamunoz.com
The Facebook page for my blog can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/CJMBlog/
The Twitter page for my blog can be found at: https://twitter.com/cjm042715
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