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2023: a reminder of the privileges non-disabled folks (me) take for granted every single day
This book begins with a baller line and does not let up: "I am in a bar in Brooklyn, listening to two men, my friends, discuss whether my life is worth living." Jones is a disabled philosopher, journalist, and mother who provides deep insight into her life and thoughts as she moves through the world. Her physical disability makes it impossible to hide, and she details the toll that being constantly conspicuous in a place takes on her. "I was acutely aware of how quickly the experience of beauty dissipates and is replaced by boredom and the dullness of obligation."
We are all humans living in bodies and one day, without fail, we will either become disabled or die. This was a big takeaway of mine from reading Rebekah Taussig's Sitting Pretty and it is a huge element of Jones' memoir. I absolutely take for granted how every single day I am not in pain, and it's not a part of my life. This book was a reminder both of how much of a privilege it is to NOT be in pain, and a reminder that a disabled life is still one very much worth living.
It was fascinating to read about the comparisons between Jones' research and her study of philosophy, and how it was reflected in her own life. She spends quite a bit of time talking about what it means to be lonely, as well as how inescapable it can be while moving through the world in a disabled body. Like Taussig also mentioned, Frida Kahlo is one of the only disabled pregnant women she's ever seen represented in any art forms.
This book felt like a slow wade through a river. I was engaged and wanted to learn more from Jones, but at points, I had to convince myself to keep reading. Jones prioritizes her stream of consciousness over following any sort of plot or real timeline of events. At other times, the insights that Jones was providing were so raw that I needed to take a break. This is a huge privilege, and one that Jones was constantly pointing out - that I am able to take a break from engaging with what it means to navigate the world in a disabled body, and she cannot.
Absolutely touched at this exchange between Jones and her husband: "You could have made me come home." "No, I can only try to be the person you want to come home to."
This book begins with a baller line and does not let up: "I am in a bar in Brooklyn, listening to two men, my friends, discuss whether my life is worth living." Jones is a disabled philosopher, journalist, and mother who provides deep insight into her life and thoughts as she moves through the world. Her physical disability makes it impossible to hide, and she details the toll that being constantly conspicuous in a place takes on her. "I was acutely aware of how quickly the experience of beauty dissipates and is replaced by boredom and the dullness of obligation."
We are all humans living in bodies and one day, without fail, we will either become disabled or die. This was a big takeaway of mine from reading Rebekah Taussig's Sitting Pretty and it is a huge element of Jones' memoir. I absolutely take for granted how every single day I am not in pain, and it's not a part of my life. This book was a reminder both of how much of a privilege it is to NOT be in pain, and a reminder that a disabled life is still one very much worth living.
It was fascinating to read about the comparisons between Jones' research and her study of philosophy, and how it was reflected in her own life. She spends quite a bit of time talking about what it means to be lonely, as well as how inescapable it can be while moving through the world in a disabled body. Like Taussig also mentioned, Frida Kahlo is one of the only disabled pregnant women she's ever seen represented in any art forms.
This book felt like a slow wade through a river. I was engaged and wanted to learn more from Jones, but at points, I had to convince myself to keep reading. Jones prioritizes her stream of consciousness over following any sort of plot or real timeline of events. At other times, the insights that Jones was providing were so raw that I needed to take a break. This is a huge privilege, and one that Jones was constantly pointing out - that I am able to take a break from engaging with what it means to navigate the world in a disabled body, and she cannot.
Absolutely touched at this exchange between Jones and her husband: "You could have made me come home." "No, I can only try to be the person you want to come home to."
