I am tired of convincing other people I’m not a burden

In this video, I'm breaking down the burden narrative and challenging perfectionism as a disabled person.
Disability is often seen as a burden to be carried by non-disabled individuals, and I, for one, use perfectionism as a way to try and meet this burden. But what if the burden is not really ours to carry? What if the concept of burden is more reflective of the narratives our world uses about disability? In this video I start to break down my own internalized ableism in order to help me combat crippling perfectionism.

[@nicokelly6453]

Thank you for sharing your experience. Feeling like/being a burden is also something I struggle with, and I know I sometimes overwork myself to compensate. It's one of those things even if I'd never judge my friends for it, it feels ingrained in me to struggle with it when it comes to myself. I study anthropology, where one of the markers of humanity beginning is when we see signs that human ancestors supported disabled people within their community who would've died without communal support. And yet, it's hard to get rid of the negative feelings around it when I'm the one experiencing it. So thank you for sharing, it's great to hear about someone having different experiences still with similar emotions.

[@disabledconstellation]

Your comment means a lot. It's a hard balance trying to create the world we want to live in and not play to these narratives that are expected of us, but at the same time trying to mitigate the stigma and discrimination that comes with not playing into the narrative. Sometimes I am a burden, but so are my friends. Helping carry each others weight is what makes us human and it's disgusting that we have been taught otherwise.