COVID19 Toolkit
Welcome to our COVID-19 Coping Toolkit!
We all know about the importance of taking care of our bodies, minds and spirits but we wanted to hear specific tips and tricks from the experts - people with chronic conditions who have had to adopt, refine and practice these tools every day of their lives.
We're releasing all three today so in true Netflix fashion you can binge watch all three or view the one you desperately need now and save the others for future inspiration. We all could use a few more tricks under our belts to thrive during these strange times. From positive thinking, creating routines, serving others and good old-fashioned humor, our members have something to offer everyone.
CLICK THE VIDEOS BELOW TO ADD A FEW NEW TOOLS TO YOUR OWN SURVIVAL TOOL-KIT!
Member spotlight – Rachelle Alford
"I've ALWAYS defied the odds and have survived the unimaginable. There's no doubt in my mind that I will continue to do so with grace.The grace and mercy of a loving God and the resiliency of my spirit that screams......I'M A SURVIVOR." - Rachelle Alford
Rachelle was forced to exit her chosen career as an ER nurse when the debilitating symptoms of Mal de Débarquement took over her life.
Rachelle is a 38 year old married mother of 3 boys. She had very humble beginnings, facing challenges no child should. Poverty, violence, homelessness, and multiple forms of neglect and abuse are just a few of them. She struggled with panic attacks, eating disorders and depression beginning at age 9. She became a mom at the age of 18, and her will to live beyond her circumstances screamed louder than the barriers set before her as a product of her past.
She forged forward as a single mom, working and attending college to make a better life for her son. She found a man who loved her and her son, they married and built a home and a family together.
In 2013 she graduated from nursing school. Drawn to Emergency Medicine, she thrived in the chaotic environment as an ER nurse and had no plans to leave until retirement.
In January of 2019, Rachelle and a few co-workers took a 3 day cruise to the Bahamas and she's not been the same since. Her highly committed brain latched onto the foreign motion of the rocking and swaying of the ship and this unnerving perception has never left her. She was eventually diagnosed with Mal de Debarquement Syndrome and has since developed vestibular migraines resulting from the vestibular dysfunction in her brain.
The combination of the two have forced her into early retirement. She's spent the last 16 months learning how to re-define herself and love herself in a whole different way - a new identity not based on career or her service in the community. This has taken her on a healing journey that reaches far beyond MdDS and VM and into the deepest darkest depths of years of trauma. It has pushed and stretched every part of her physical, emotional, and spiritual being.
Early into her recovery process her Physical Therapist suggested she try dance therapy and use her former dance training in gaze stabilization, spotting, grounding and neuroplasticity to find some sense of freedom and confidence in her "new body."
Dance therapy wasn't new to Rachelle but it took on a whole new meaning. Dance captured her heart years prior because it gave a voice to her inner life - pain, anger, sorrow, as well as joy and inner strength - that she could never articulate with words. Now, dance therapy is bringing her into the land of the living and thriving - slowly healing her visual dependency, motion sensitivities, and her wounded soul. When Rachelle is dancing, the words "incurable" and "disabled" fade away and she moves gracefully upon these impossibilities.
Director's Insights
Want to know what it's like making a film about thriving with chronic conditions whilst living with a chronic condition? Our Director's Insights stories are now airing on IG Highlights and Twitter where we showcase snippets from the sometimes inspiring and always quirky conversations between myself and our multi-talented producer/editor Mia Allen. (Did you know Mia's first words were "Here kitty kitty!?")
If you aren't already familiar with my rather stormy existence, I have the same condition as this newsletter's featured member Rachelle. It's called Mal de Débarquement Syndrome. MdDS is a neurological disorder that manifests as a constant perception of rocking, bobbing or swaying. I have been living on a life raft 24/7 for five years and for a better part of this journey, my sense of self dissipated as my relationship to my body, my career and my community faded.
Making this film is bringing me back to life.
Some of this process will be shared in our IG Director's Insights and it will also be included in the narrative arc of the feature film, so hop on board our life raft and get a deeper look at what it's like making a movie while at sea.
Stay tuned
Next month our members are changing things up and turning their smartphone cameras out into the world. They will record the objects, sounds, landscapes and moments that express what it's like to live Unfixed. Sometimes a picture (or sound) really do speak louder than words so we are looking forward to this multi-sensory ride with our members.
Please forward this newsletter, visit our website to read previous months' newsletters, subscribe to our Youtube and new IGTV channels, follow us on Twitter and spread the word about our project. Are you an Executive Producer who wants to help us achieve our funding and distribution goals? Click the email icon below and introduce yourself!
Thank you for your continued support and encouragement. Your willingness to engage with us on this journey is helping empower the voices of these precious Unfixed lives.
Kimberly Warner
director/producer