Sherry and Melissa wrap up the first season of Senseless with this episode talking about the book Being Seen by DeafBlind author Elsa Sjunneson. The hosts talk about the book’s examination of ableism in the media and in the author’s own life and how it applies to their personal experiences. 

This podcast is not psychotherapy and does not contain medical advice, but is simply a recording of two friends talking.

Links:

Email questions or feedback to Sherlynn53@cox.net

Sherry and Melissa are delighted to reconnect with their listeners after a long hiatus! This episode combines segments of two different attempts at recording. Sherry and Melissa’s first attempt contained a lot of laughter and upon listening to it, the hosts noticed that maybe they were laughing a bit too much through the hard stuff. The second recording is Sherry’s fullest truth-telling about what it is like for her to live with chronic illness, while Melissa listens. The final version you are listening to starts with a funny story by Melissa from the first recording and then, after our theme music, cuts to Sherry’s truth-telling.

This podcast is not psychotherapy and does not contain medical advice, but is simply a recording of two friends talking.

Episode Highlights:

• The difficulties of understanding people wearing masks as a Hard-of-Hearing person (including at the audiologist!)
• Feeling pressure to downplay sensory loss or chronic illness issues for the sake of others’ comfort
• Balancing gratitude and positivity with self-love and articulating needs
• The fear that being honest and open will cause people to abandon us versus learning to receive love and trust in others
• The everyday challenges associated with sensory loss or chronic illness and their impact on energy and emotions
• Love languages, listening, and what love looks like to us
• Poetry reading: “Sweet Darkness” by David Whyte
• Guided breathing exercise

Quotes:

“It’s hard to see ourselves or where we’re coming from. I’m always curious how other people perceive me.”

“It’s always the mindset of ‘don’t talk about that, nobody wants to hear about it.’ You know what I mean? Because people are gonna see it as complaining, or people are gonna see it as ‘we don’t want to talk about that, that’s not fun to talk about,’ or ‘that scares people.’”

“Sometimes, we have to be uncomfortable. Because if you’re never uncomfortable, you’re not really connecting with people.”

“I know that getting to where I am right now is learning that I had to turn my love to myself and love my own heart and love me and everything about me. And it’s doing me a disservice if I’m constantly trying to make it about everybody else but me.”

“There’s part of me that wants to tell others how unbelievably ill I am. I have no idea how to get people to understand that, I don’t think it’s possible. But what it’s like to live every single day, all day, every day, feeling so sick that most people, they maybe would go to the emergency room.”

“It’s about receiving love from other people. That’s the challenge of letting myself just be fully myself without worrying that people are going to abandon me.”

“My inward journey is asking me to receive love. And I can’t receive love if I’m not authentic about who I am and what I’m going through and allowing people to love me. And I have to remember that some people aren’t going to be able to handle it. And that’s okay.”

“You can’t ever just relax, because you’re always, ‘What’s the next thing?’ you know, or ‘What symptom am I dealing with at this moment?’ It’s always a symptom. It never goes away.”

“Just the energy it takes to pass as, like, fitting in, or to pass as able-bodied is so much that you, like, need to come home and sleep sometimes.”

“I appreciate, you know, people doing things for me. But ultimately, it’s just spending one-on-one time with me, you know, sharing things about what’s going on with you, and have a conversation with me.”

“You don’t have to choose between this source inside and love from others. You get to have both.”

Links:

Email questions or feedback to Melissa@senselessthepodcast.com or

Melissa and Sherry are back for a refreshingly honest and powerful conversation about breath, breathing, and being grounded while living with sensory loss and chronic illness. They begin with a brief update on Sherry’s immunoglobulin intravenous treatment, Melissa’s update on her experience learning ASL, and an explanation as to why it’s so crucial for ASL instructors to be part of the Deaf community themselves. They go on to share their thoughts on Facebook potentially becoming a virtual reality community, and acknowledge that, while technology has offered us many incredible advantages - particularly for those living with sensory loss - it can also have a scary side.

Next Melissa talks about having implantable collamer lenses in her eyes, and Sherry discusses her own vision issues, as well as the experience of temporarily losing her sense of taste and smell due to COVID last year. Our hosts explore the importance of breathing, and Melissa breaks down how it affects the way we perceive the world around us from a biological standpoint. They also chat about flare-ups related to food, regulating cravings, and living with a balance of moderation. Finally, you’ll hear a moving reading of the poem “A Blessing For One Who Is Exhausted” by John O'Donohue, Sherry and Melissa’s passionate discussion about learning to break the rules, and a closing breathing exercise that will leave you feeling a warm, comforting glow from within.

This podcast is not psychotherapy and does not contain medical advice, but is simply a recording of two friends talking.

Episode Highlights:

• Melissa and Sherry begin with an update on Sherry’s immunoglobulin intravenous treatment
• Melissa’s experience learning ASL and enrollment in a Queer ASL class
• ASL instructors are typically Deaf or hard of hearing themselves as it is crucial for them to truly understand the Deaf experience and culture
• Facial expressions are very important when communicating through sign language
• “Ready Player One” and the possibility of Facebook becoming a virtual reality community
• Technology has so many incredible advantages, especially for those with sensory loss, but it can also have a scary side
• Melissa shares that she has implantable collamer lenses in her eyes
• Sherry discusses her own experience with vision problems and temporarily losing her sense of taste and smell due to COVID
• Sherry uses her ears to see and Melissa uses her eyes to hear
• Staying grounded while living with sensory loss
• Breathing is crucial - it’s Sherry’s connection to the higher self 
• Melissa gives a fascinating breakdown of how our breath can change the way we perceive the world around us
• Sherry’s experience with anxiety and panic
• Melissa’s flare-up after eating bread and trying to regulate cravings
• A reading of the poem “A Blessing For One Who Is Exhausted” by John O'Donohue
• How Melissa overcame the belief that she couldn’t meditate due to the ringing in her ears
• Breaking the rules and focusing on your breath
• The rules do not take sensory loss into consideration
• Guided breathing exercise

Quotes:

“I'm actually learning more than I did in any of those other classes.”

“That's why I always say the universe has your back.”

“I'm also glad that I didn't get into the immersion program, because it seemed like it was going to have a lot of ableist problems.”

“I think it's sort of frowned upon for hearing people to teach ASL… It feels wrong for hearing people to learn it from other hearing people for fun or something when it's a whole culture.”

“Yeah, I have implantable collamer lenses in my eyes.”

“I'm using my ears...