DBlog Week: Change the World

This week is Diabetes Blog Week, which is slightly unfortunate because I have a crazy week this week. If you don’t know what Diabetes Blog Week is, click here to find out.

Today’s prompt is about changing the world and the areas of advocacy about which we’re most passionate. This post (and probably all DBlog Weeks posts) are tough for me to really write about because I’m struggling with DBlog burnout and I’ve become pretty disenchanted with the DOC as of late.

When it comes to changing the world, I’m not even going to try. If I focus on trying to change the entire world or trying to change anything in society as a whole, I will be stuck here turning my wheels forever and getting nowhere. What I want to do, and have tried to do through this blog and daily interactions, is:

  • Help one person have a better understanding of diabetes
  • Help one person who is struggling with diabetes feel less alone

Once I’ve helped one person, then I can move onto the next. I’m not a world leader, I don’t have a podium or even a huge blog following. I’m a person who works with people… which means my advocacy is here.

I’m at a loss for new words to explain these ideas, but I feel like I’ve explained them before. Here’s what I mean:

  • Why I blog about diabetes. This posts explains at least a little about why I put a very personal health issue out on the internet for others.
  • Just wear the dress. Posts like this, are my way of trying to help others with diabetes feel more comfortable in their own skin, even if that skin has sensors and sites stuck in it. I tweeted about an awkward question from a child over the weekend about my pod (she thought it was a form of birth control!) and a company that makes wraps, sleeves and other covers replied to it telling me to check them out. I’d rather answer awkward questions and help that kid grow up with a better understanding of diabetes than try to cover up my robot parts any day. Sometimes people stare, sometimes people ask questions, those are opportunities to help that one person understand diabetes a little bit better.
  • My Plus One is a story of Diabetes In the Wild and meeting another PWD at an event that wasn’t particularly friendly to people with nonfunctional pancreases. He helped me feel less alone and I think I helped him feel less alone too.
  • Why I Participate In Research sheds some light on the reasons I let scientists study my blood and read my medical records and why I answer survey after survey. I’m not able to fund a cure and I certainly don’t have the skills to identify or create one… but I do have the screwed up immune system that those people need access to in order to unlock the mysteries of Type 1 and hopefully cure it, even if it isn’t in my life time.

I don’t want to change the world. I want to help people.

If you want to make a difference in the world, start with the people around you. Some of the advocacy efforts I’m most proud of took place in one-on-one interactions with people.

To read other posts on this prompt, click here.

6 thoughts on “DBlog Week: Change the World

  1. It is so hard not to get burnout with anything surrounding diabetes…especially when there’s disagreement/heated discussions,etc. (The same thing came to my mind today around this #dblogweek prompt, so I feel you!) My blog isn’t very popular, I’m not some shining star member of the DOC that everyone knows, but every now and then, something I write about or do helps *someone*, and they let me know. That is enough for me, and makes me extraordinarily happy!

  2. Yup, that’s the whole idea!! If we each reach out to help just one person, as a group we have the power to change the world. πŸ™‚

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