Happy disability awareness month! Technically it’s disability EMPLOYMENT awareness month. But when I learned that disabled October existed four years ago, something exploded in me. I created and posted something everyday that month. Films, photoshoots, stories about being disabled, my own awareness growing with every post. This self-portrait happened then, it is from a series in which I photographed and then wrote about the most deformed parts of my body. Later the series was

A few days ago, a friend of mine called me. She’d had a baby girl in April (also my birth month) who did not move her legs. 30 hours after giving birth, baby girl was whisked away to a children’s ward at another hospital for testing and poking etc etc. “I thought about you a lot in those days.” My friend said. They never figured out why baby girl wasn’t moving her legs, and the rest of her checked out fine, and she’s moving around bit by bit. “We’re letting her get used to gr

My back is confused about it’s back duties. This has happened before, so I know it will pass. When I lie down, I am in no pain. When I move or sit, I get bolts of electricity in my back that range from cautioning to so intense It’s like I grabbed an electric fence but the fence is inside me and it is grabbing itself. It’s worse after getting up after lying down. Peeing in the morning is like having a lightening storm inside me. Buzzz zappp ⚡️⚡️⚡️It’s a kind of wobbling miscom

I don’t want to suggest that the highlights of our lives should be marked by their popularity. However, I do want to say that this selection of photos, based on the posts that you all liked the most this year, closely matches what I would choose as my own, personal highlights. I find that genuinely touching. I’m so glad I get to share these meaningful moments with you. Shall we recap? First. Love All The Way. What a massive triumph it is when you feel the urge to slam your he

Photo by Eli Mora It's International Day of Disabled Persons. This year's theme is “Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusion and equality.” I think about this every day. Empowerment, inclusion, equality. It's in every story I tell. In every adventure I have. Every relationship I am in has navigated it to some extent. The other day I was talking to a friend who said, "I don't even see you as disabled, you just sit a lot for someone so active.” "I think I kno

(This post was originally posted to fb and instagram on October 8th, 2016) During the stretch-out part of one of my boxing sessions my trainer once said, “I can always tell when you’re upset.” “You don’t know me.” I said. “I do. You cover your face with your hair when you lie on the table.” I peaked out from the veil of my hair. “Shut up.” Being born disabled is like being born into royalty. The role comes before you can be anything else. The attention follows the role. St

photo by Erin Clark I recently got a message from an orthopedic surgeon. “I think you are some kind of oracle and everyone should follow your account, able-bodied or not. And I always think that women should talk to women about sex. But I found it quite hard to initiate a conversation like that.” She had shown my account to one of her patients. A young woman who is also paraplegic. “So what I wanted to do was ask your expert opinion on how to initiate a conversation like that

If you have read Love All The Way you will recognize Mau and I figuring out how to re-create the sexy and passionate tango scene from Mr and Mrs Smith - with my wheelchair in it. I posted a video of the scene here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BnJ6t9qh55u/?hl=en&taken-by=erinunleashes In the essay, I write: On the first day of the course, while Mau carried me out of a roughly ploughed sunflower field, he said: “When I get married and carry my future husband or wife over the th

Have you read Love All The Way yet? It’s my new, longform essay over on Medium Its super sexy and romantic and very international and I think you’ll like it! It’s all about me and Mau and the photoshoots we did to recreate classic romantic movie scenes. The objective was to recreate the emotional tone and visual elements of each scene but with my chair as visible as possible. In the video in this link, we are setting up for Casablanca after we shot Rear Window and I am betwe

Here is a #selfie I took while I was naked in my#wheelchair in Rome last summer while my friend took a mid day nap in the bed just outside the frame. The window dressing was so dramatic and I wasn’t tired. And those are all the reasons. Now, a story about #confidence: The other day an astonished older woman widened her eyes at me and asked, 'You're here alone? Qué fuerte!” I was in the grocery store. I get that all the time. I could translate it for you from every language on