This month we asked the Unfixed community to answer one pretty tough question.

"Would you give up everything you've learned from your chronic condition if you could be fully and forever cured?"

I first heard this question while working with a theater troupe for young adults grieving the loss of a loved one. During the performance, they stood in a line on stage, backs facing the audience, and said "Turn around if you'd give up everything you've learned from grieving your loved one in order to have them back." The theater grew uncomfortably quiet when not a single one of the young adults turned around. During rehearsals they flip-flopped a lot depending on the day. But when it came down to it, they ultimately valued the lessons of their painful experience and chose to keep them even though their hearts were aching to see their moms and dads again! It just floored me.

It's a high-stakes choice and there is no right or wrong answer. Over here in the land of Unfixed, we celebrate all the nuances of our choices and lived experiences. The yes's, the no's, the maybe's and the "ask me again tomorrow's." Some have so much life left that they feel it wouldn't be hard to "get those lessons back" in another way. Some would give anything to have another decade or two of being an elite athlete. Others expressed deep curiosity for their conditions and disease processes and how their experiences have made them more creative, empathic, and persevering humans.

One thing can't be disputed. Hardship can provide enormous opportunities for growth but it's essential to remember there are many resources needed for this to happen - community, shelter, access to a good care team, mental health services, to name a few. So depending on our circumstances and the day of the week, we may answer this question differently. But for this tiny, frozen snapshot in time, we share our answers to - What If…

Buckle up. This one stopped my heart and resuscitated me at least a dozen times.

ABOUT:
On February 1, 2020, twenty people living with chronic conditions began a 24-month journey together. They all received an email with a prompt, a question or an idea to help them explore a topic around living Unfixed. Then they set up a tripod and recorded their response with their smartphones. Some are living with the aftermath of a cerebral stroke, others are struggling with autoimmune disease or daily, debilitating migraines. These honest, unpolished moments are at the heart of the unfixed state - the highs, the lows and everything in between.

On the first of each month, they will receive a new prompt. Subscribe to our channel to stay up-to-date on the monthly community videos premiering exclusively here on YouTube!

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Thank you to our partners and collaborators for believing in us, bringing healing and advocacy into your own circles and helping us grow our audience to create a more informed and empathic world. We can't control what curve balls come our way in life but we can decide what to do about them. We are endlessly inspired by the people and organizations choosing to bring positivity, awareness, and love into some of the most challenging of places. Please take the time to learn more about all of their extensive efforts within the chronic illness communities - Invisible Disabilities Association, Our Odyssey, Solutions for a Better Day, Inspire, Health Story Collaborative, VeDA, InvisiYouth, Beyond My Battle, and MdDS Foundation.