Disability Awareness Spotlight

𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡, 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐰 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐨, 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭

𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.

My name is Matthew (some call me Matt). I am a business owner and digital artist. I enjoy the outdoors, traveling, portrait photography, game nights, writing, and riding my motorcycle.

𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲.

Over the years, I’ve dealt with mostly anxiety. By nature, I consider myself very detail-oriented, so I have tendencies to be more particular about certain things in my life. I found over the years that this has caused me to overthink in a lot of situations, large or small. I’ve discovered taking time to myself has been the core root to dealing with my anxiety; In a sense, shutting myself off from the world for a short time. From there, I’ve been making efforts to challenge myself in situations I don’t necessarily feel comfortable in. Examples of this would be learning to ride motorcycles or putting my writing out publicly.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲?

I’m no expert in dealing with anxiety. If I were to offer any words, it would be to first openly address with yourself that you have it. I’d say don’t deny yourself of healing simply because of pride or fear. I’ve really become comfortable with being vulnerable outside my own bounds because I do it on my terms now. I encourage anyone with anxiety to also use it to their advantage if they can. I’ve found that I can do this by simply making checklists for myself. I learned that it’s in the small victories like cleaning or finishing grocery shopping that you can affirm the good work with yourself. Being busy helps, but I also haven’t let it consume me. In that time, I take to myself and write or put myself in an atmosphere that I feel safe. The other thing is to talk to yourself. It may sound strange, but affirmation with myself has been very critical. It basically validates my emotions and feelings are real and it’s okay to have them. In short, it’s okay to not be okay sometimes. You’re on your own timeline and if you make that the core focus for yourself, I can say that in my own experience that you will start prioritizing yourself in the best of ways. Hopefully, you find this helpful.