D Blog Week 2017: More than Diabetes

"Lets wrap up the week by sharing a little more about ourselves, beyond the chronic illness we or our loved ones live with.  Share an interest, hobby, passion, something that is YOU.  If you want to explore how it relates to or helps with diabetes you can. Or let it be a part of you that is completely separate from diabetes, because there is more to life than just diabetes!"

It's always sad when blog week comes to a close, but this year we've ended on a fantastic topic. So much of my online presence and my work in health advocacy is about my diabetes. I don't begrudge that at all because I've chosen to take on the role of a health consumer advocate. But behind all the awareness stuff I'm also a person. My t1 is a pretty big part of it, but there's more.

I'm a pianist, albeit one with poor timing. I've been playing for 14 years. It doesn't look or sound like it most of the time, but I have fun. This is the beginning of a song called Bumble Boogie. It's a jazz version of Flight of the Bumblebee. 

I'm a binge watcher of 80s and 90s movies and TV shows. I love the music too, hence my 80s themed 21st which involved lunch and bowling in the middle of Sydney, dressed like this:

Probably one of the strangest things I've ever done

I have a mild concert addiction. I just love the feeling of being surrounded by people who are so excited and sharing the same moment. Music is such a huge part of my life and it's the best feeling sharing that with other people. Here's a rundown of the artists/bands I've seen so far:

• The Arctic Monkeys: the concert where I fell in love with Alex Turner and his guitar
• The Foo Fighters: 3 hours of rocking goodness
• Florence + The Machine: getting drenched on the Opera House steps has never been so worthwhile
• Crowded House: nothing quite like singing "Fall at Your Feet" with thousands of people on the Opera House steps
• Hozier: surprisingly less mellow live. Check out Arsonist's Lullaby 
• Of Monsters and Men: for some Icelandic swaying and clapping 
• Hunters and Collectors and Something for Kate at A Day on the Green: how can you not love these Aussie classics?
• John Farnham: I was the youngest person in the joint but he was one of the best artists I've seen
• Adele: part concert, part comedy show 
• Coldplay: my first ever concert and I've been twice now. Not my favourite band but come on... they have confetti and Viva La Vida 

The other big part of my life is my degree. I'm a student speech pathologist. The course is a bit of a long, hard road sometimes. Okay, a lot of the time. The road is basically on fire. 

But just when I start to question my sanity for doing this degree, I go on a prac that reminds me just why I started in the first place. I love helping people and I love having meaningful conversations with people. Nothing brings me more happiness than helping someone else help themselves. In this job I get to help people do vital things like communicate and swallow. I can't tell you how amazing it feels to have a tiny part in improving someone's life, and their family's lives too. It's hard, but being a speech pathologist is a privilege. 

I also do less meaningful things like drive around in a car named Paolo (a.k.a "Euro Trash") alternating between loudly singing to the radio, willing Paolo up steep hills and verbally abusing bad drivers with the windows up. I'm clearly fun on road trips.

So hi. I'm Bec from Sydney, Australia. Whether you've stumbled across my blog this week or you've been here for the 5 years I've been writing, thanks for joining my ride with Type 1 Diabetes.

However I'm clearly not the poster girl with the 5.5 sugars on the pump

If you've enjoyed my posts this past 5 days, head on over to my Facebook and Twitter. I blog at least monthly and am part of the Twitter OzDOC chats on Tuesday nights, 8.30pm AEST. 

Hope to see you there!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adiabeticsrollercoaster/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sweetandsourt1