What’s in a name?

I decided to name my blog Peculiar Ideas About Beauty. This is a line from one of my favorite books, The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I worked at an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon from 2000 to 2004. The owner of the store would often let us borrow galleys of upcoming books to read. He believed that his employees should read books in order to help customers. While I disagreed with the owner on a lot of things, I respected this. I chose to read the galley of The Time Traveler’s Wife. At one point in the novel, Henry introduces Claire to his father and friend. Claire exclaims that she finds crows beautiful and Henry’s father responds,” You have peculiar ideas about beauty.” This struck me not only in terms of the story but also as a fact of life. Don’t we all have peculiar ideas about beauty, really?

I created this blog in 2012 after I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). I thought I would need an outlet for all that I was going through. The most important thing for me at that time was finding a name for this blog. It needed to be special to me. That was all I was able to do then. Strange that it took me over 3 years to write my first actual post. I could say that it took me a long time to process that I had MS. I could also say that I wasn’t ready to tell my stories. But I don’t think I will ever be truly ready to process that I have MS. For me, and many, multiple sclerosis is a crazy fucking ride.

Scientifically, MS is a disease in which the immune system eats away at the protective covering of nerves called myelin. It is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body. Personally, it has changed my life in every possible way.