Reflections on 25 Years with Type 1 Diabetes

How do you commemorate 25 years of a life with type 1 diabetes? With a story. Bring the creative storytellers and music aficionados together, and let your heart run wild. Then the magic happens, as captured in this short, 10 minute film.

It is me perhaps in a way those who know me haven’t seen or might not ever see, just as we all choose or do not choose to reveal our intimate selves to others. We all hold our vulnerabilities close—particularly those with chronic health conditions. It’s a perpetually evolving dance that has even changed for me in the months since this was filmed.

For the first 25 years, diabetes made me feel like a slave to my body, constantly torquing my life to try to meet its needs without simultaneously allowing it to interrupt anything else happening around me or that I was seeking. Now, through the pursuit of sport and fitness, my body feels more like a companion, something to support and nurture through all its tumultuous twists and turns so I can revel it its power and grace. It’s still a fight for the life I want for myself and my body, but I am starting to feel a little less victim to it.

It is this latest chapter of the past 5 years’ journey into high intensity conditioning and strength training that I share with you now, that transition from slave to companion, all made possible by the most talented coaches and supportive fitness communities. I wouldn’t be who I am or have the enduring relationship I have with my body without them.

I welcome your own reflections of this glimpse into my life, and the places and practices that move my world.