Once I was asked what movie character best represented how I saw myself. My response was Sid from the “Ice Age” movies. Sid is a loyal, lovable sloth that is also misunderstood and disliked. My herd tolerates me, with just a few loving me while others feel obligated to put up with me!!
While I am aware of the disdain people have for me (hence my nickname TomASS), I think Sid and I share an apathy as to how it affects us. It’s not so much we do not care, but we accept we are different and not everyone can accept others being different. This is such a world of conformity. Even with our own self-acceptance of who we are, there is still a pain that comes with the rejection and the deliberate hatred that we do feel. These people become the bane of our existence. Not that our lives are not difficult enough!
Also like a sloth, I come across as lazy. I have Multiple Sclerosis. My most common symptoms are fatigue and peripheral neuropathy in my legs (a pins and needles stinging & numbness like when your legs go to sleep). It makes my walk sluggish and I sleep a lot more than even a teenager! While I have other symptoms, these two make me appear slothful like Sid the sloth.
My herd is like Sid’s herd – we are an eclectic group: Muslim, Christian, Atheist, Spiritual, Mormon; gay, straight, bisexual, transsexual, curious; skinny, big, muscular, tall, short; Caucasian, Middle Eastern, Latino(a), Black; liberal, conservative, moderate, nonpolitical; but what we all share is we love each other in spite of our differences. We love each other for who we are as individuals – not how we fit the conforming society. In fact, that is what we like about each other, we challenge each other and we learn from exchanging ideas.
Most importantly we respect each other and help each other. The only time I wish to be more than Sid is so I could do more for my herd (friends). My herd goes above and beyond to help me and I just am not in a position to do more for them. That is my only real regret. I often feel trapped in my body because of my MS and because of finances (or lack of! lol), the depression that comes with this feeling makes my herd even more special to me! I LOVE THEM!
My computer crashed, if you enjoy my blog and would like to contribute for a replacement computer, I would appreciate it! 😉
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- Ice Age Sloth Bone Found At Snowmass Site (huffingtonpost.com)
Thomas Johnston 
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