These Awkward and Arthritic Adventures

If you've been alive within the last few months, then it's highly likely you've seen the misadventures of everyone raising awareness for the disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (or more commonly, ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease) by dumping ice cold buckets of water atop their noggins. Unless of course, you've been living under a rock or aren't apart of youngin's shenanigans of social media. There's not a single person that hasn't participated in this newest sensation on my friend's list – even my dad and his motorcycle club had done a video to raise money for a charity motorcycle ride a few months ago, before the videos were overrunning social media (it's sad when my father is more hip than me).

There's a mixed-feeling that I have about this particular social media bandwagon that has swept the nation and crazed teenagers (and even a lot of famous faces, including some hot guys that take off their shirts- praise the lord). Likely, these videos were created for a purpose to begin with –to raise awareness and funds for a fatal disease that affects the lives of too many people. However, it's obvious that that purpose is slowly being lost with the billions of videos that are overrunning my facebook news feed. It's without a doubt that these videos served a purpose by raising an unbelievable amount of money for their foundation ($88.5 million, whoa man), however it's unlikely that the majority of people who post videos could tell you anything about this disease. Which makes me think that their awareness is getting buried underneath an overload of money, and perhaps that's why for every ice bucket challenge and nomination that I'll see, there's at least four people complaining about ice bucket challenges. Even though, it bothers me that the awareness factor is dwindling away, there's absolutely no complaints that I could possibly have about someone attempting to raise awareness for a cause they're passionate about. 

Irrelevant. I just find it hilarious.

Perhaps, my opinion about advocating is bias considering everything that I've done on social media is almost always in an awareness raising effort (I'm pretty annoying and boring like that). Undoubtedly, everyone on my friend's list will get tired of my endless attempts at raising awareness for the causes that too closely affects me, and haters will hate hate hate all they please, I'm never gonna shut up about finding a cure for rheumatoid arthritis (but, then again do I ever really shut up about anything). That's partly a reasoning why this blog is important to me, because it raises awareness to the real-life affects of rheumatoid arthritis and puts a face to what a pain in the ass (and hips and knees and back and wrists and elbows...) it is. Which, with any hope at all, will make others stand up and say "this disease is an asshole, let's get rid of it." In another blog about living with chronic illness, Chronically Katie, she paraphrases a quote from a politician, Harriet Harman where she said, "You shouldn't listen to people who tell you to shut up, because you aren't doing this for yourself, you're doing this for every person affected. If you won't do this, then who will?" That's exactly my philosophy when advocating, because I've seen too many eight-year-olds that are unable to walk,  that have to watch their friends play kickball while they're confined to a wheelchair with swollen kneecaps. This disease is unfair, and I won't shut up until it's cured. Sorry, not sorry.

That all being said, among all the thousands of ice bucket challenges you'll see this week, you won't see mine (even though I've been nominated several times and am just coyly ignoring them, oops). That's because I'm not absolutely ridiculous and prefer not to be frozen solid – and considering I can't even enjoy the luxury of a swimming pool because it's inevitable that my joints will gain the inability to work afterwards (this also one of the many reasons you won't see me in a wet t-shirt contest or pass the mason-dixon line anytime in winter ever again), so homegirl gonna pass. However, I'm not a complete scrooge to everyone's fun, and will be donating instead to the Arthritis Foundation. If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go take the warm water challenge and go take a shower before promptly burying myself underneath heating pads and the comfort of pain killers.

Please consider donating to the Arthritis Foundation in your next ice bucket challenge or your next "I just wanna be a rad person" challenge. Here is the link.

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Hugs + Kisses,

Julia.

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I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything; but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.     

—  Helen Keller