Risograph Thesis Comic
November 2025
October 2025 marks the 9 year anniversary of my diagnosis with chronic pain. It took me a long time to accept pain as part of me. It took me a long time to feel comfortable sharing my pain with others. Pain can be deeply isolating. Pain exposes you, makes you feel vulnerable. Reflexively, that makes us want to hide, but in that vulnerability lies an opportunity for connection. Pain is one of the few universal experiences. Everyone has struggled with pain, be it acute or chronic, physical or emotional. Sharing my experiences with pain has opened some really beautiful connections. I want to embrace the grief, isolation, and physical barriers of pain. I want to acknowledge and accept that your future isn't guaranteed. I want to accept pain as morally neutral. I want to accept pain as a physical sensation–as a bodily reflex–while still accepting the fear and grief it causes.
My thesis is a reflection on how pain shaped my life. Living with this pain for this long has transformed me. I’ll never know what the able bodied person of me would be like, but I am happy where I ended up. My thesis is a dedication to that pain.