Ideal climate, moral dilemmas, and disability predicaments
For me I hate northern winters where it is glacial icy cold no thank you. I don’t like arctic temperatures and blizzards snow and ice. My ideal climate is a Mediterranean, arid/semi arid or humid subtropical climate. I like the winter to be like spring and fall in the north. 50s, 60s and low 70s high 30s and 40s low Spring and fall should be like the month of June (75-85 highs 50s lows and eventually lower/mid 60s at the very end of spring or very beginning of fall) summer should be hot like July and August with highs in the 90-100 and lows in the 70s and 80s. I live in a humid continental climate which has four extreme seasons. I would prefer a climate with three seasons really. I like a change of seasons but more moderate. Tolerably cold winters and hot summers. Pleasant falls and springs. On the warmer side until it hits November-March every year. To give an idea of cold I get it could be 80degrees maybe even 85 outside and I’m still in long sleeves, thick sweaters ( whether pullovers or cardigans or lighter-mid weight jackets, pants and sheepskin lined moccasin flats or lighter/mid weight socks and unlined light boots. Leggings under my skirts and dresses and shorts. So I like it warm or when it’s cold my idea of cold is anything. Below 75-80 I don’t like extreme cold. I dress like it’s winter when it hits the lower 70s. I don’t need days in the 20s or 30s even 40s are ridiculously cold. I would rather sweat in the summer than be cold. I don’t find mid to upper 80s to be extremely. Hot but it is very warm and I start sweating bullets usually when it hits low 90s especially with humidity. If it’s 90 outside and it’s humid yep I feel the stickiness. I sweat a lot when it is 90s and triple digits even though I wear light summer clothes and drink plenty of water when I’m outside. I enjoy heat and I think extreme heat is a real summer but I sweat a lot. I try to stay in the shade. When it’s 90 plus you need air conditioning but I hate being cold inside and having to bundle up inside with long sleeves, pants, and two fleeces. I dress pretty modestly.most of the time because New England doesn’t usually get that hot. And even when it is hot I dress pretty conservatively. Maxi dresses and skirts midi dresses and skirts. Light weight pants and leggings under mini dresses and mini skirts. If I wore shorts they would be Bermuda shorts hitting around my knee or no more than maybe two inches above the knee. Personally I don’t want to worry about showing my underwear or my thighs. I wear biker shorts under my skirts and dresses when it’s blazing hot in the summer or knee length leggings. Or light trouser leggings with tunics. And light pants and tops..I am mostly pretty conservative in the way I dress and act. It’s just being a gender and sexual minority that makes me not conservative. I don’t smoke, drink, or use recreational drugs. I have never been into casual dating or casual sexual activity. Actually at 33 I’m a virgin. I have only been in three relationships and now I’m thinking of abstaining from all sexual activity ( outercourse as I have never had anal, oral or vaginal sex) until I am married. I don’t believe in dating married, engaged, or anyone in a relationship. Honestly I have no desire for penetration because that leads to pregnancy and pain supposedly the first time. I find oral, anal, and vaginal sex distasteful. I know that is very direct and crude. The only thing that makes me not completely conservative is the fact that I am a gender and sexual minority. I’m intersex ( which is how you are born). We used to be called hermaphrodites, and pansexual ( hearts not parts of you will. Someone’s gender, gender identity, or sex has no bearing in me deciding to partner up with them romantically. Most people find that a hard concept to wrap their heads around. It’s ok. They get bisexual sure but pan meaning all they don’t. Also these are people who think there are only two genders whereas I believe there are a couple more options so more like four-six genders. Not tens of dozens though. Yet part of me thinks I should just make life easier for myself as an intersex woman and just stay with men. Maybe I should live a completely conservative lifestyle. My politics are liberal to moderate and I don’t follow any organized religion. Yet I question myself if I am living a godly lifestyle. I should be working at least part time and helping charitable causes more even if just a couple of hours each week. I need to balance this with higher education and vocational training, hobbies/interests/talents/passions/skillsets/aptitudes, household chores and maintenance/ shopping, paying bills/insurance/taxes, and living on my own and traveling. I have a long way to go to being a proper adult. I am living off my parents and government benefits. I think a part time career is all I can handle though. My sister thinks I am milking the system because I am able bodied and have an undamaged brain. Well that’s debatable because I have depression, anxiety, ptsd, and schizophrenia that I keep under control with medication. She thinks I could be working part time even if I never would be a morning person to get up at 7 or 8 am for a full time career job. My sister is moderately politically conservative unlike me who is moderately liberal. She believes in social safety nets as a way to get people back on their feet not being on it for the rest of their lives unless they are physically incapable of working like with
Multiple sclerosis or severe brain damage. My disabilities are psychiatric and mental. Not developmental or intellectual, not physical. My sister says it doesn’t have to be a life sentence. She also struggled with depression and anorexia. She thinks that she is struggling and has to go to therapy but still manages to go to work and function as best as she possibly can. I guess she thinks I can do the same and that part of me is just being lazy and comfortable relying on others for financial support and psychological comfort. I admit I have become dependent on my parents for my financial needs and I know it’s not considered optimal or even normal for parents to be providing for their thirty something year old daughter completely. I know I have the luxury of having mom and dad to support me instead of having to work to earn my keep even on a part time basis. My sister told me months ago she thinks I use my mental illness as a crutch but don’t realize it. As I said, she thinks I’m milking the system a little bit. She thinks I can do something to earn money and go back to school to finish my education. She asked me what am I going to do with my life? Am I just going to spend as much time as I can living off mom and dad and social security SSI without even a part time job? I need a flexible remote work arrangement that flexes around my life part time to be honest. She thinks I have too much freedom and not enough structure in my day. We talk about a lot of different things. I told her I want to make my own structure and she said if I was going to make my own structure I could have done it by now. I do my hobbies and passions ( I have been slacking on some of them) and laundry and that’s it. I don’t do much housework like cleaning because it takes a lot of energy out of me. I don’t cook yet. I don’t pay my own bills and because I don’t drive myself around I let my sister and parents do the household shopping. I need help with ordering clothes and things online. I know how to use a debit card to pay for stuff online but I don’t even know how to print out a return receipt from a website like eBay. I have a lot to learn to be self sufficient as possible. I think I will always need some kind of guidance and support to understand paying bills, insurance, and taxes. I’m not naturally proficient at those things. When I live in my own, I will learn how to do things. But for like medical insurance info and medical appointments I will likely need a patient advocate. My parents are my guardians and I have some protection while they are still alive and healthy but someday they are going to pass away and I will be on my own. I need to equip myself with the skills and the drive ( motivation) to live an adult life and take on adult responsibilities without getting overwhelmed. I know long ago my parents pictured for me a fully functional life where I was completely independent. As far as getting around , if I can’t drive I hope my parents will help me get a private driver who helps transport.me around. I may have to rely on public transportation but that wouldn’t be fun with many grocery bags and having to carry that around on a bus or a train. My best bet is a part time live in companion who can help take me to appointments and drive me around. I will do most of the things on my own including cooking and cleaning and personal and household shopping , but someone to help me get around would be great. I hate having limitations but what I can do is play to my strengths and work around my deficits the best I can. This life will be tough for me but not unachievable.
Multiple sclerosis or severe brain damage. My disabilities are psychiatric and mental. Not developmental or intellectual, not physical. My sister says it doesn’t have to be a life sentence. She also struggled with depression and anorexia. She thinks that she is struggling and has to go to therapy but still manages to go to work and function as best as she possibly can. I guess she thinks I can do the same and that part of me is just being lazy and comfortable relying on others for financial support and psychological comfort. I admit I have become dependent on my parents for my financial needs and I know it’s not considered optimal or even normal for parents to be providing for their thirty something year old daughter completely. I know I have the luxury of having mom and dad to support me instead of having to work to earn my keep even on a part time basis. My sister told me months ago she thinks I use my mental illness as a crutch but don’t realize it. As I said, she thinks I’m milking the system a little bit. She thinks I can do something to earn money and go back to school to finish my education. She asked me what am I going to do with my life? Am I just going to spend as much time as I can living off mom and dad and social security SSI without even a part time job? I need a flexible remote work arrangement that flexes around my life part time to be honest. She thinks I have too much freedom and not enough structure in my day. We talk about a lot of different things. I told her I want to make my own structure and she said if I was going to make my own structure I could have done it by now. I do my hobbies and passions ( I have been slacking on some of them) and laundry and that’s it. I don’t do much housework like cleaning because it takes a lot of energy out of me. I don’t cook yet. I don’t pay my own bills and because I don’t drive myself around I let my sister and parents do the household shopping. I need help with ordering clothes and things online. I know how to use a debit card to pay for stuff online but I don’t even know how to print out a return receipt from a website like eBay. I have a lot to learn to be self sufficient as possible. I think I will always need some kind of guidance and support to understand paying bills, insurance, and taxes. I’m not naturally proficient at those things. When I live in my own, I will learn how to do things. But for like medical insurance info and medical appointments I will likely need a patient advocate. My parents are my guardians and I have some protection while they are still alive and healthy but someday they are going to pass away and I will be on my own. I need to equip myself with the skills and the drive ( motivation) to live an adult life and take on adult responsibilities without getting overwhelmed. I know long ago my parents pictured for me a fully functional life where I was completely independent. As far as getting around , if I can’t drive I hope my parents will help me get a private driver who helps transport.me around. I may have to rely on public transportation but that wouldn’t be fun with many grocery bags and having to carry that around on a bus or a train. My best bet is a part time live in companion who can help take me to appointments and drive me around. I will do most of the things on my own including cooking and cleaning and personal and household shopping , but someone to help me get around would be great. I hate having limitations but what I can do is play to my strengths and work around my deficits the best I can. This life will be tough for me but not unachievable.
31-35, F