Episode 1: The Power of Pride-Part 2

This is Mi Voz, a podcast by Me, Milly Velez, Founder & President of the Fibromyalgia Care Society of America, Inc. The FCSA’s mission is to provide education, care, and supportive services to individuals living with fibromyalgia, their families, and the community at large.

In each episode, I will use my voice to support our young people living with fibromyalgia while highlighting my personal experiences with chronic trauma, mental health and Fibromyalgia.  I encourage you all to share your individual experiences by providing the space for you to join me as a guest.  I will also provide you with a challenge to dive deeper on how you can be a part of making the world a better place for all.  

Episode 1: Mi Voz-The Power of Pride Part 2

In this inaugural episode, Milly shares insight on Episode 1 of Half Functional with Fibro-the Power of Pride. Milly discusses her experience working with the LGBTQ+ community and how the complexities of navigating community as “different” can impact our mental health.

Hello Everyone!

I am so excited to finally be working with our young people again. They are the key to our future and supporting them has always been at the forefront of the work that I do. I hope you all had a chance to listen to the inaugural episode of Half Functional with Fibro, hosted by our two fibro youth coordinators.  If not, I invite you to please do so.

To begin, as I listened to Bella describe her experience as an LGBTQ+ young person, it made me think about the stories I heard while handling the waiting list for a nationally recognized LGBTQ+ youth shelter and the harmful impacts that stemmed from exclusion, lack of compassion and in some instances cruelty-which affected their overall well being and mental health.   As a person that was taught to serve children at a very young age, it made me wonder how we can bring forth change? It forces me to reflect on how we as a society can learn that the children are our future and that we are here to serve All of them.

This lead me to think about my own experiences as a Neurodivergent human.  But first let me explain what is NeuroDivergency…  It is a term to describe people whose brains work differently. Not to be confused with normal vs. abnormal because there is no “normal brain”. 

For me personally, I do not believe I was born as a neurodivergent person as I was always the “A” student with a photographic memory and learned very easily.  I believe that chronic trauma caused a shift in the functioning of my brain.  Which resulted in me receiving and understanding things differently-This has been a long tedious journey.  Simultaneously, how others perceived me caused a whirlwind of hurt on my mental health as I now had to also learn how to show up in a world where the average human listens to respond and not to understand.  As the person leading the Fibromyalgia Care Society of America, inc. I often hear similar stories of how our community is not heard or understood.  How can we bring forth change for our young people, mental health and community? Have we not learned that understanding different/opposing realities is key in uniting people to make the world a better place?

If you are struggling with being perceived as “Different”…. I challenge you to reflect on how different is beautiful… and how it is the only thing that has set apart the celebrities, people and leaders many of us idolize!

If you are a parent, I challenge you to reflect on how the lessons all start at home… and how teaching our young people three key principles can help make the world a better place:

The Principle of Love- Love for themselves, for their family, and for others. Not just love myself, not just love my family. You know love everyone, including others, your community, and especially the people that helped you and loved you unconditionally.

The Principle of Understanding-Learning to listen to understand that everyone's reality is different. Learning to listen, not to respond. Learning to listen with compassion. We have not all been assigned the same path. We have not all been handed the same resource. And we have not all been wired the same.

The Principle of Acceptance-Accepting everyone for who they are, not who you want them to be. Accepting that everyone is worthy of love. Building a community where everyone is understood, accepted, and proud of who they are.

In Peace, Power, and Progress

Simply Milly

Mi Voz: Episode 1-The Power of Pride, Part 2

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