To those that consider themselves chronically ill/disabled, do you think it’s wrong to love calling yourself chronically ill/disabled? Granted, I wouldn’t wish my disorders, physical or mental, but if given the choice to get rid of them I wouldn’t say yes. (This relates more to my physical disabilities than mental illnesses). It sounds fucked up, but I’ve become so used to this community, routine, humor, spoon theory, and culture that if my disabilities and illnesses were magically taken away it would be like taking a piece of my identity away. I know able-bodied people and some who have disabilities but don’t label themself as such tend to think it’s weird- “Why wouldn’t you want to get rid of your suffering?”- but it’s become an identity for me and I’ve come to accept that (in a way) and it’s helped me a lot regarding the bad shit I go thru like surgeries, doctor appointments, judgement, ableism, etc. Because my mom considered disabled as a dirty word I never used it and never was in the community, I felt so outlandish and alone, but since using disabled as an identity instead of a description about me I’ve loved my body more and accepted it more (though my mom will sometimes side-eye me when I call myself disabled/Deaf and will remind me “I’m not disabled, I need to stop using that identity and find identity in God.”). TLDR: I like calling myself disabled and if given the choice to be able-bodied, I wouldn’t accept it because I’ve grown attached to the label, community and culture that’s apart of it. Is that wrong? Should I be ashamed?