Navigating your landscape

Living your life (whether it is with a disability or not) involves walking around and learning to navigate your internal landscape. As you explore the physical world you also become familiar with the various landmarks and provinces of yourself; happiness is by the sea, depression is located in the dark forest, Parkinson’s is a mountain range, your intelligence is a deep lake, stammering is an icy path... As you gradually build a map of yourself, you recognise places you’ve been to before, which enables you to turn away from the path leading to the depression forest or take the easier route through the Parkinson’s mountains or stay a while in the warmth of a sunny meadow. Sometimes you will get lost or find yourself in a new part of your landscape. Sometimes you will have to redraw your map completely. You are constantly moving around your thrown landscape, trying to find the right path and coming to terms with the terrain and the place you inhabit.