No Surrender with Hollis Peirce

Today’s guest is the bright light, podcast host, historian, athlete, and disability advocate, Hollis Peirce. With Hollis, disability is neither a tragedy nor a motivational speech. He offers a refreshing, real, and uplifting take on living with muscular dystrophy.

Early on, a doctor told Hollis’s mother that her child would suffer from an “inability to thrive.” Instead, he developed what the experts might call, a lifelong case of thriving.

In our all-dressed conversation, Hollis talks about everything—why it’s a waste of energy to get too hung up on language, what it’s like to lose your best friends to a less forgiving version of your condition (long live Dino and the No Surrenders), how he confronted his own ableism when faced with the choice between six months of palliative car or a ventilator to help him breathe. (“I picked the vent! Otherwise, my sister would have killed me!)

My favourite part was our impromptu discussion on mortality, complete with dark humour and a sense of wonder. We also totally nailed the listener question: I Can’t Accept My Disability and I Feel Like Nobody Around Me Understands. Don’t worry, we banish the phrase, “look on the bright side.” And yet, as Hollis always says, If you’re alive you can thrive.

(Erica: But thriving doesn’t have to be a pull-up and a PhD!)

Thank you, Hollis for this dreamy interview—the perfect episode for our inaugural YouTube video! Everybody, make sure to check out Hollis’s show—Twenty-First Century Disability—which explores the transformative power of embracing disability in our modern times.

Follow Twenty-First Century Disability on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Follow the show on Instagram and Facebook.

Follow Erica on Facebook or Instagram or check out her website at ericajschmidt.com. You can also make her day by sending her a listener question to any of these places.

(Full shownotes at ericajschmidt.com/podcast/no-surrender-with-hollis-peirce)

PS. This was my first time recording on a virtual platform. Thank you for joining me on my adventures with a new microphone and the wild world of video editing. Huge thanks to Hollis and @jahonart for your patience and support!

Listener Question From: I Can’t Accept My Disability and I Feel Like Nobody Around Me Understands

Dear Erica and Hollis,

So I was born with a disability that affects all my limbs, resulting in loss of use for everyday life actions, you know things non-disabled people take for granted and allow them to live independently. I don't have the freedom to be independent, and I can't accept it.

I don't know if this is appropriate, because some are in worse situations than me and yet they still have hope and dreams, they even built a life.

But it's still how I feel. No matter how much support I get from my family, friends, my therapist, I can't accept the way things are. I can't accept that I have to rely on someone for almost everything. I can't accept I can't be free to use my own body however I want, without limitations or pain. I can't accept I can't be spontaneous, always gotta plan every step of the day carefully.

Everyone around me encourages me to look on the bright side, other talents and skills I have (I'm good at math and I can draw), things I can still do. But none of those will fix me, or even fulfill me.

I have a friend who's also disabled, and when I shared those feelings with him, he said I'm just comparing myself to others and want things I don't have. But that is simply untrue. I know what I want and the kind of life I'd want to build.

So I'm here feeling like no one understands me or how I feel, and I don’t know if you will understand either. But thank you for reading anyway.

I have no hope for the future, just feeling sad everyday, sometimes crying, sometimes I manage to distract myself with fun pastimes. There's nothing I want in this life, in this body. I guess this is just a rant, but if you have any thoughts, I’d be grateful.

Love, I Can’t Accept My Disability and I Feel Like Nobody Around Me Understands

Thank you so much for listening! To support this independent podcast, please consider purchasing a Lil and Bud dog greeting card at ericajschmidt.com/merch. You can also make a one-time donation here at The Donate Button. Feel free to get in touch for other sponsorship possibilities. My infinite thanks for all of this.

More infinite thanks, as always, to Taes Leavitt (darling big sister, Big Heart Journey), Sherwin Tjia (technical and creative advisor, Sherwin’s Quirky Events, Episode 22) and my dearly departed aunt Eileen Gun, whose generous gift helped to fund my new podcast equipment.

And infinite thanks to you, my dear listeners! Stay tuned for more episodes extra soon. Don’t forget to follow This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life on your favourite podcast platform. And if you enjoyed the episode, I would be immensely grateful if you could share it with a friend and/or leave a kind and enthusiastic rating and review.