Making the Invisible Visible

Stigmas swell in silence. By making the invisible visible, we step into our power, our vulnerability, our light.

Type 1 Diabetes is, by its nature, an invisible disease. An incurable, lifelong, invisible disease.

I was diagnosed at age 5, decades before companies like Dexcom and Omnipod developed glucose monitoring systems and wireless pumps. Decades before Lila Moss rocked the runway with her Omnipod proudly displayed on her bare upper thigh. Decades before Disney Pixar’s new film “Turning Red” added a minor detail on the arm of a character – what is believed to be a Dexcom device – and put a visible spotlight on an invisible, and largely unknown, disease.

I grew up internalizing the mantra: Invisibility was inextricably linked to control. Control of food intake, control of exercise, control of stress, control of sleep, control of blood sugar. A lifetime of control was the goal and invisibility was the reward.

As an executive with one of the leading professional services firms, I sat in the boardroom of a Fortune 100 company, meeting with a C-level leader, a few weeks after taking these first Microsteps. This was our first meeting together and the air in the room was noticeably stiff. We were a few minutes in, barely through introductions, when an alarming, ear-shattering ring emerged from my Omnipod monitor: I had an Omnipod failure. I noticed a tingling of annoyance climb up the back of my neck at this abrasive disruption, felt the swelling of long-hidden shame bubbling up to the surface. Taking out my monitor, secured on my lower back, I silenced the sound. The executive, startled, looked confused. I made a choice. “I’m type 1 diabetic,” I told the client. “If you don’t mind, I will need to inject right here, so we can get back to our meeting.” The air in the room shifted. She smiled, “My grandfather was diabetic,” she said. “Inject away.”

Those first steps opened up a stairwell of opportunity. I joined the board of Marjorie’s Fund. I leaned into a new community of friends living with this invisible disease, many of whom had found strength in the network of others united around this common reality. I gave voice to a part of myself I had previously conditioned to silence.

I fully integrated this part of myself into my story, embraced its impact on my resiliency, my tenacity, my empathy for others. This intentional integration became a source of strength, a source of power, a new source of choice. This choice also made me more human: a more authentic leader with my team, a more trustworthy confidant to my clients, a more self-assured mother to my sons.

*I really love this article because it talks deeply about stigma. The author of this article struggles with T1 Diabetes, but I think the message goes deeper than just that disease. Here on 7 Cups, we all share our struggles with each other and that's what makes us a community. Like the author mentioned, she felt so much more empowered after she talked about her struggles and I think that this message is very important to anyone who may be struggling- you don't have to struggle alone. I promise you that there is always someone out there who is going through a similar situation as you; you just have to speak up 😊*

Is there something that you've struggled with and kept to yourself for a long period of time and found yourself sharing after a while? If so, did sharing it make you feel more empowered and less alone?

#Stigma #Empowerment #NeverAlone

Read the full article here.