MS Warrior Profile #2
MS Warrior: noun A person who shows or has shown great vigor or courage in an activity, cause, or conflict, as in living a kick-ass, purposeful life despite – or, oftentimes, because of, having Multiple Sclerosis.
The following is excerpted from the article “The proven power of giving, not getting” posted by Jessica Ravitz on CNN.com onDecember 14, 2009 9:15 a.m. EST:
One person who can attest to the power of giving is Cami Walker, a 36-year-old woman who received a prescription to give when her multiple sclerosis , a diagnosis she got at age 33, left her a physical and emotional wreck.
She could barely get out of bed, and yet Mbali Creazzo, a friend and spiritual mentor, single-handedly killed Walker’s pity party. She said, “‘Cami, you really need to stop thinking about yourself. … You’re feeding this disease,‘” Walker remembers. “She said, ‘I have a prescription for you. Give away 29 gifts in 29 days.’ ”
Creazzo, a South African born medicine woman who lives in Oakland, California, explained that the idea, rooted in indigenous practices, was taught to her, although the number of days prescribed may have been different.
“Altruism has been going on for thousands of years,” said Creazzo, 58. “Why it’s so powerful at this moment is because of what’s happening in the world today. People are looking for that place inside of them where they are of some use.”
Walker, who lives in Hollywood, California, dismissed Creazzo’s suggestion at first but came back to it when she realized she had nothing to lose by trying. What followed made her a convert to the idea. Whether she simply called a friend to offer support or bought iced-tea for a homeless guy on a hot day, the simple actions made a difference. She said her mood lifted, her ability to get around improved and the progression of the disease stopped.
“I don’t see it as a cure. I still have MS,” said Walker, who went on to write the best-seller “29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life” and create an online community at 29gifts.org, where Creazzo is also involved. “I really don’t think about the limitations of my disease. I wake up more focused on what I’m capable of.”
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Karen, This posting of the article really moved me…. an impact after reading that left me feeling that no matter what my circumstances are, I am here and going to make the journey the best it can be for me and the loved ones that I am lucky to call family and friends. Loved this, thank you for sharing!
The “blame the victim” mentality in this article is very sad. To refer to a person’s emotional response as “selfish” shows a great lack of compassion. Wonderful, giving gifts worked for someone. But the mindset that her initial reaction was selfish is both wrong-headed and wrong-hearted.
hi ZenMonkey. thanks for your feedback, i appreciate it – as you can see i just recently started this blog so i’m eager to find out what people are thinking out there! as far as “blaming” the victim, i certainly don’t blame the woman in this article for having MS any more than i blame myself. which is to say, i don’t think it’s “my fault” that i have a genetic predisposition for MS, or that i have X (insert still unknown reason for disease here). however, i do believe i must own a degree of responsibility for choosing to be miserable and run anger and hostility and sorrow through my system for many years, thus compromising my immune system and making my body more susceptible to the manifestation of MS symptoms. that said, i have an enormous amount of compassion for the woman in this article, for myself, and for anyone who suffers from chronic illness. did i have the tools to know better all those years that i was busy attacking myself and being angry and sad? no, i didn’t have the tools then, and for that, i feel compassion (and for anyone who doesn’t have the tools now as well). but i believe the most compassionate thing to do for someone who is ill is to help them get well, and if that means telling them to stop feeling sorry for themselves (stop being so selfish) then that is what i will say, and that, to me, is the ultimate form of compassion. joining someone’s pity party is the least caring and least useful thing i can do for someone who is sick. is it her fault that she’s sick? that’s a very challenging question and requires more than a few paragraphs to answer. but what i do know is that anyone who is chronically ill can benefit from putting their attention on giving to others, because it moves them into a generative state – which is where anyone who hopes to get well needs to be. also, worth noting, oftentimes calling someone’s behavior out in the crudest way possible (stop being so selfish!) is an excellent way to offend someone into being available to change in a way that they wouldn’t have been otherwise. anyway, thank you for your thoughts and i appreciate you jumping into the conversation. i wish you lots of yummy vibrant health for the new year.