To be what I want, not what you expect me to be

December 3rd- International Day of Persons with Disabilities

I don't know if I'm really convinced about these "International Days". Although, of course, if we are told that it is something established since 1992 by the General Assembly of the United Nations, there must be a reason...

It was in the 1970s when people with functional diversity, both in Europe and in the United States and Canada, began to organise themselves into groups to fight against their social exclusion. At that time, there was a change from an individual model and conception, to be understood as a social construction, a relationship between people and their environment.

That is why, surely, somewhere on our planet someone will be "pick and shovel" lowering a verge, or there will be a parent trying to convince a school principal that their child can (and should) enrol in their school... I myself have been a direct witness to very similar scenes... Let's not forget it!

The sad thing is to recognise the reality. If I hadn't had those hands, or that mouth, I wouldn't be here, wondering whether to demonstrate or celebrate on 3 December...

Well, actually I'll do the latter. We're going to take advantage of the event to hold an "open rehearsal" of 'Mariage d'amour' and a screening of a short film (which I'll leave below), with the participation of colleagues from IZA (Matia, the house where I've been living for over ten years... I'll also be doing it with my colleagues from "Kirats Teatro Repelente", a "team" of actors and actresses who work together at the ANTZERTIOLA theatre factory on the UPV/EHU campus. A "team" of actors and actresses who work together in the ANTZERTIOLA theatre factory on the UPV/EHU campus. Can anyone think of a better way to celebrate this day after the confinement we have endured?

And life has these "whims". I belong to a Theatre Group "Kirats Teatro Repelente" and also to a "colectivo HQPC", with whom I perform the play "Habrá Que Ponerse Cachas".

My experience confirms that people feel better about themselves when they can share common interests with others (groups of belonging)... and if you also share creative processes... Just imagine, what gifts and surprises awaited me in life!

Yes, it is well known that creativity is one of the most important and necessary values for people. Since we were children, we show and exhibit our "artistic creativity" through all kinds of games. Perhaps that is why, since I was a child, I wanted to be a writer. It seemed to me, given my physical conditions, the best way to express my concerns and desires... But no, paradoxically, I have been given the opportunity to express myself through "that special way" I have of moving.

Many choreographers and "connoisseurs of contemporary dance" have commented on the singularity and novelty that a piece like ours represents "in this world". A duet designed and choreographed by Maylis Arrabit, expressly for Ebi Soria and me.

With this brief account of my artistic experience, I wanted to reflect that we are on the threshold of an era in which the lines between our apparent limitations and our potential are becoming increasingly blurred. Therefore, I believe that we deserve to give ourselves the opportunity to be more "ourselves" and less what we think we are expected to be. It is time to empower ourselves as people and to celebrate our diversity.

I hope that in the year we start this December 3rd, we can be more "authentic", escaping from stereotypes that do not represent us and that only exist in our "imaginary".

Thank you for reading me.