Sometimes It's Just Not About You

Never in my wildest dreams did I think living with a chronic condition would positively impact my life. The age old turning lemons into lemonade really is a thing. But we can't forget, there's a process. You don't just pick up a lemon, look at it and voila' the juice appears. You have to squeeze it. Squeezing can be uncomfortable and painful. Just look at a lemon or any other fruit that is squeezed. It's gone through the ringer LITERALLY. Such is life, especially living with a chronic condition.

Psoriasis is like a lemon, it can give us a sour taste. It's not fun, it's painful and it can be overwhelming on our bodies and our minds. But we can take our experiences and create the lemonade from what we've learned to manage our conditions. The lemonade is our testimonies, our lived experiences and our truths that help give hope to others.

It's not about me

Along the way in my journey I questioned why I was experiencing so many issues with my psoriasis. I didn't understand why everything was happening to me. The 180 of mild flares, to uncontrollable ones is overwhelming. Crying on my phone with my sister, it dawned on me. There is a bigger purpose, and I held onto that belief.

That belief is what led to me to connect other black women experiencing similar. The birth of my group Sistas With Psoriasis grew from it. My challenges and lived experience could provide hope and strength for someone else. This drives and motivates me. We could build and grow, through sharing and taking exactly what we needed to support one another. The evolution of The PsoriaSIS Collective proves my purpose within the struggle. To create a space for others so they know they aren't alone.

Mentoring and advocacy

Mentorship and advocacy, for me, are the cool sweetness of my lemonade. One-to-One mentorship through the National Psoriasis Foundation is incredible. I get to mentor others across the country and the world. Others in different countries need support, and just a listening ear just like we do. Every opportunity to mentor shows me just how much we all can relate to each other. It opens the eye and the heart in the global impact just human kindness and empathy can bring.

Advocacy is the good sugars you need! Raising my voice in rooms where change can happen fills me up. I may never get to see, meet, or speak to all of us living with psoriatic disease. Even with this truth, the work I along with other advocates do will help shape the future for each and every one of us. It's for me, my little footprint on the world.  When change happens it feels so good because it reaffirms and reignites my purpose.

Understanding it all

In the thick of any chaos it never makes sense. Flares don't make sense, pain doesn't make sense, changes in healthcare doesn't make sense and the list can go on. What I believe personally and know for sure is there are reasons for everything. Uncovering them may not be pretty, and feel downright crummy but there is purpose. Everyone is not called to be an advocate or a mentor on a large scale, but your purpose may be just to be an understanding friend to someone. Your purpose may be to share a resource to someone. Your purpose may be to lend a hand, or literally just lend your ear.

I've learned that this journey hasn't been just for me. It's been for my family, especially my children. Also for the countless people I advocate for, and for the black and brown women who often are not heard by their providers. This isn't easy, and it's been difficult many times. Exhausting more than you can believe, but worth it on every level.  I am grateful to know that my condition has made me stronger and not weaker. It has opened my eyes, and seen other ways to change the world. Even on my worst days when I hate having to manage my psoriasis I am brought back to my why, and my knowing that this isn't just about me.

Being a part of this community is also a part of it being so much more than our individual stories. I've gained so much in each of your own journeys. The fabric of our community is how we all connect. We've certainly got a lot of lemonade we can share with each other.