October 15, 2025 – The Exhaustion of Trying to Work

I’m so tired of not working.

I’ve done everything I can to show the value of what I bring — lived experience, education, resilience — only to be met with silence.

Every application feels like rolling a stone uphill with a broken lever.

Employers talk about inclusion, but rarely build it.

They don’t see that applying for a job as a quadriplegic takes four times the effort before the interview even starts.

We rely on support systems not as a choice, but as a bridge.

So when friends or family ask, “How’s the job search?” I have to swallow the same truth — I’m not lazy. I’m locked out.

And still, I keep trying.

Because persistence, for me, is a kind of protest.