Back in November I wrote a song called "Not By Choice" for World Diabetes Day.

The words I wrote were pulled from my memories of how it felt to be diagnosed and not know what type one diabetes was. Thoughts like, “why did this happen to me?” “What did I do wrong?” And I blamed myself for a long time too.

Then I found this community online. The Diabetes O.C. which we affectionately call it and a community I mention often. When I found this group of other people with diabetes who had those same feelings, I realized that we could help one another and not give up hope. (READ MORE)

"...every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main..."

While Donne's meditation has been somewhat trivialized by the parlor game, "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon", the more people we meet, and the more experiences we have, the more connections to others we develop, and the more we become part of the "continent" of human life. Each group of people we encounter, and allow to enter our lives, gives us a different perspective from which to view the other groups and connections and degrees of connection of which we are part. We are woven further and more deeply into the network of human existence, and it, into us.

"...each man's joy is joy to me; each man's grief is my own..."

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What did I do before the internet?

I used to buy the newspaper to find out what movies were showing at the theater. I would call all my friends at least once a week to see what was going on. I would have to watch the news to see what the weather was going to be like the next day. I would read the TV guide to see what TV shows were going to be on.

So much has changed.

Before the internet I had no relationships with any people with diabetes. I knew a few type 2’s but never felt like they understood what I was going through and they were always much older then I was so I felt awkward.

So now that I use the internet all day long, I have no clue how I lived without it.

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The Web Warren

I am personally involved, to one degree or another, in several online diabetes communities and social networks. Each has a different
set of features and a different communal attitude -- but what they all have in common is that they provide a level of psychological support for their members. In each, I find members who credit these communities for their continued quality of life.

Today, many of us work crazy hours, or we're single parents who can't drop off the children to head to a traditional support-group
meeting, or we're transportation-limited in some way or another. Online communities are in many ways the evolution of traditional support
groups into the digital space, providing support that transcends time zones and physical distance.

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With Carey and George writing about music that moves their diabetes lives, I wanted to add my two cents on this one.

For years now, the song Fitzcarraldo by The Frames has reminded me of the diabetes community and our lives with diabetes. The song Fitzcarraldo is based on a movie from 1982 about a man, Brian Fitzgerald, so enchanted with opera and the singer Enrico Caruso that he takes it upon himself to build an opera house right where he lives.

In the middle of the Peruvian jungle.

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Yesterday was just a crappy day in general. I think my brain was just working overtime which is never good for me. I try to keep the depression that comes with having diabetes at bay but sometimes it is overwhelming. Sometimes it seems nothing will get me out of it.

I have found the best way for me to get this junk out is to get it out literally literally! I write my blog here at dLife and my personal blog. I share the good times and bad. So many times I have thought, "no one wants to hear about my cruddy day" but whenever I have, someone else has commented on how they too feel that way now and then. (READ MORE)