Of Building, Belonging, And Breaking Down Barriers

Begging Your Indulgence Due To WordPress Inaccessibility

Posted on by Sirena Carroll

My Treasures,

It’s been a while since I’ve sent you beautiful people a note without a video attached, but I wanted to regarding this.

I want to beg your indulgence if updates appear to be lacking some of the formatting or featured images they once used to harbor. After returning, I discovered that the WordPress.com post editor is nearly inaccessible to my screen reader.

WordPress gutted the classic editor, rendering it quite difficult to use without sighted assistance. The old WordPress editor was clean and easy for my screen reader to follow. No blocks, no code editors, and a layout that was simple to interact with. I’ve enabled what settings I can to combat this, but the end result is a lot of clutter and frustration.

I’m on a hunt for tips and tricks and tools I may not currently be aware of. I could use the mobile editor for now, but there are many options that are simply not available there. Even finding the publish button is a challenge now.

I want to ensure each post is as ideal as it can be, and I don’t feel I can deliver that right now. But I am trying.

You are all wonderful, and I appreciate the support of every one of you. Thanks for understanding this new hurdle, and I’ll keep you updated on my progress as I go.

Video: Answering Questions About Menstruation As A Blind Female

Posted on by Sirena Carroll

As a blind female, I’ve received my fair share of questions regarding menstruation. In this video, I seek to address some of the more basic queries I’ve gotten in a matter-of-fact manner that doesn’t go into too much detail on the aspects of this topic nobody wants to hear about. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. If you’d like to see a more in depth video where I delve a bit deeper into this topic, I’ll definitely consider that as well.

Video: I Experience Colors Primarily Through Senses Other Than Sight

Posted on by Sirena Carroll

I Experience Colors Primarily ThroughSenses Other Than Sight

How do I experience colors? 5 percent through remembered images, 95 percent through my other senses. Taste, scent and texture all play a role in how my mind interprets colors today.

If you’re #blind, comment below and share how you experience colors in your everyday life! I’d love to hear from others on this topic.

Video: Blind Mother Talks 5 Things I Wish I Could See As A Blind Parent

Posted on by Sirena Carroll

Parenting with a disability is beautiful in many unique ways, but it doesn’t mean the wish to see certain aspects doesn’t exist. Here are 5 things I wish I could see as a blind parent.

If you’re a blind parent, comment below with some of the things *you* wish you could see!

A Glimpse Beyond The Blindness To The Mental Struggles Beneath

Posted on by Sirena Carroll
This photo depicts a turbulent ocean breaking over rocks. Waves crash in all directions, and sea foam sprays. The water is blue and teal in color, darkening toward the image’s foreground. Ominous gray clouds fill the sky in the top left corner.

As I begin to feel out this blog once more, I realize I want to give you readers here a glimpse into who I am beyond the blindness. While I do plan to do this with YouTube videos as well, some things can’t be scheduled, and today’s experience was one of them.

Meet anxiety. A constant companion, if not a steadfast friend.

The medication I take to forestall this turbulent ocean of emotion from taking over my mind isn’t safe for Young Sir to be exposed to, and therefore, I’ve abandoned taking it on doctor’s orders. The end result is a mind existing upon a foundation of quicksand.

Anxiety was my name today. Anxiety was my breath. Anxiety was my lover, embracing me and luring me into its destructive arms against all better judgement. Anxiety is like falling in love with the wrong person: a relentless descent into something beyond one’s control without any idea how to stop it from taking all and leaving nothing.

Anxiety fed upon my inability to find anywhere for covid testing before my travel today. All the sites I searched are either #inaccessible, claim their tests have no garunteed turn around time, or don’t offer information on how those tests will be delivered. Nobody is answering their phones. Everywhere wants an appointment I can’t be certain will be of any use to me. I have strictures I need to follow in order to leave this country, and it feels like none of the places that are supposed to care do. It feels like one enormous circus with me as a monkey being forced to cartwheel through hoops for a simple result.

I feel stonewalled, trapped, and like I’m not going to be able to visit my Rosie in Germany at the end of the month. Around here, this process has been made virtually impossible, and I cannot afford to pay a Lyft driver to ferry me around until I find somewhere that will provide me with straight answers. I am at a loss and do not know what to do anymore.

I cannot find the right in this today, my Treasures. I cannot find the halo. I can only see the rough seas and ominous clouds.

Maybe everything is right about just being human.

I just wish it felt right instead of fifty shades of wrong.

Such are the struggles of one suffering from the insideous disorder of anxiety. There are days when it is easy to beat back. I’ve made so much progress in my thinking since I last posted regularly.

And then there are days such as this, when I unveil my vulnerabilities to show you that I’m just a woman. I’m blind, I struggle with anxiety, and little issues can turn into raging oceans I don’t know how to tame. And that’s okay. Every challenge seeks to teach us something. I’m not sure what the lesson in this struggle is yet, but I’m glad I can find out with Treasures like you supporting the journey.