June 10, 2025 • 37 mins
What happens when we refuse to be defined by limitations? Meghan Johnson's story captivates from the first moment she shares her infectious laugh and wise perspective on living with cerebral palsy. This isn't just another inspirational tale—it's a masterclass in finding authentic joy through life's unexpected challenges.
Growing up as an identical twin, Meghan was fortunate to have supportive teachers and friends who recognized her potential early. Yet she also encountered those who tried to make her feel like she didn't belong. Instead of internalizing these negative experiences, she transformed them into motivation, developing an unshakable sense of self-worth that radiates through every word she speaks.
When Megan explains her spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, she does so with remarkable clarity and humor. "My body does a lot of things I don't want it to do," she laughs, describing everyday moments that might frustrate others but that she approaches with levity. Her perspective on accessibility challenges—like being charged an extra $200 for a concert just because she needed a personal care assistant—illuminates the additional planning required for activities many take for granted.
The conversation takes a profound turn when Meghan discusses gratitude and joy. She articulates how facing significant challenges can actually expand one's capacity for gratitude in ways that might not otherwise be possible. "When you're stuck in a routine... sometimes when those monumental things happen, it will just expand your views and fundamentally change you as a person," she observes with wisdom beyond her years.
As an "everyday advocate," Meghan doesn't speak from stages to thousands, but her lived experience demonstrates that people with disabilities can lead rich, expressive, joyful lives. Her relationship with her young nephew beautifully illustrates this—he's curious about her wheelchair, eager to help, and completely comfortable with difference because that's what he knows.
Perhaps most striking is Meghan's insight about disability as a "gift." She clarifies: "It's not like 'oh, I'm so grateful this happened to me.' It's like I'm grateful that it has given me this perspective on life." This distinction offers listeners a nuanced understanding of how hardship can transform into wisdom.
Ready to be inspired? Follow Meghan's journey and discover how choosing joy transforms everything.
Cerebral Palsy Foundation: https://www.cerebralpalsyfoundation.org/
Follow CPF on Instagram: @yourcpf
Follow Meghan on Instagram: @princessmeg1998
Out Of The Blue:
For more: outoftheblue-thepodcast.org
For exclusive content: patreon.com/podcastOOTB
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Welcome to Out of the Blue the podcast, a platform
dedicated to celebratinginspirational stories of people
from all walks of life,overcoming life-changing
experiences, who have foundtheir way forward.
I'm your host, vernon West, andmy co-host for today's episode
is my daughter, jackie West, who, along with being our social
(00:44):
media and marketing manager, isalso a professional musician and
Reiki healer.
And I want to especially thankyou, our listeners, for joining
us here today and giving us yourprecious time and attention.
We know just how valuable thatis, and please remember to smash
that like button and hit thatsubscribe button, because
(01:06):
everything helps to get the wordout there.
Today's guest is Megan Johnsonof Burnsville, minnesota, a
writer, artist and advocate whohas never let anything,
including her cerebral palsydiagnosis at birth define her
limits.
Diagnosis at birth to find herlimits.
(01:28):
Growing up as an identical twin, megan was supported by
teachers, therapists and closefriends who helped her recognize
her potential early on.
Whether she was using adaptivetech to write or finding
creative ways to join in gymclass, megan approached life
with determination and humor.
After high school, she returnedto volunteer in the same
special education program thatonce supported her, helping
(01:51):
students unlock their ownabilities using the strategies
that worked for her.
Though college sparked herinterest in writing and media,
she quickly realized her pathwasn't a traditional one.
Megan is now focused oncreating poetry and art,
building a life that reflectsher values of independence,
authenticity and self-expression.
(02:11):
She may not speak from a stage,but her story is a powerful
form of advocacy in itself.
We're honored to welcome MeganJohnson to Out of the Blue, the
podcast.
Hi, megan, and welcome to Outof the Blue.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Hello, thank you for having me Welcome to Out of the
Blue.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Thank you.
So what brings you to our showwith Megan?
I think I pretty much spelledthat out, but I want to hear it
from you.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Yeah, that was a very nice intro.
Thank you for that.
Yeah, I was always a very goodstudent in school.
My teachers were verysupportive and I had a lot of
quality friendships, but alsosome people who, like wanted me
(02:56):
to believe that I didn't belong.
But that was kind of just likestrengthened me to become better
, you know, just like themotivation to just prove all
that wrong and just prove tomyself that I'm capable of more
(03:17):
than I think I am.
And I did have like somestories about, like elementary
school.
There was this boy who wouldmake a weird noise at me every
day and I didn't know what thatmeant, so I never responded to
him at all and I'm glad I neverdid, because I think it was at a
(03:40):
music concert.
And he comes up to me and hegoes oh, you can talk.
And I said, yeah, yeah, I cantalk.
And this is the way you shouldtalk to someone who you don't
think can talk either, becauseyou don't actually know what
their situation is like.
(04:01):
If you're not memorable, that'stotally fine.
It doesn't mean your brain isgone.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So you overcame all that stuff in elementary school
and then you built up a strongsense of your own value, because
people that supported yourecognized that, yeah, what you
had like that's.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
It's important that you recognized it too my
teachers were like very good atpointing out my strengths and
that just made me want to dobetter for them, like perform
better for myself and myteachers that were rooting for
me.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Yeah, beautiful.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Can I ask?
I don't know much aboutcerebral palsy.
Yeah, I would love to know moreabout what it is.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
So what it is?
It is considered brain damageto where the signal from your
legs doesn't like transfer toyour brain to tell your legs to
like walk and it affects yourmuscle tone.
So mine is high muscle tone.
(05:19):
Other people can have lowmuscle tone which makes them
them like loosey-goosey.
I'm like very tight in mostlymy legs.
I have spastic quadriplegiccerebral palsy, so that affects
all four of my lips.
(05:41):
My arms are more mobile than mylegs.
Like I have more range ofmotion and my body does a lot of
things that I don't want it todo.
I drop things a lot because I'mjust like if I'm super focused,
(06:01):
I'm like bringing the remote tomy tray, I'll like bringing the
remote to my tray, I'll be likealmost too focused on it and
then I'll drop it.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
You know it's really.
I love seeing you laugh.
You know you're very.
The way you look at things isvery great.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
I mean that I have a good sense of humor, otherwise I
think I would cry abouteverything totally what were the
first times you when youstarted to feel like you were an
artist?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
what kind of things started happening?
Speaker 1 (06:36):
my favorite subject in school was always English and
writing, and I was very good atit.
But I just didn't want beingtold what to write about and
having an opinion on likepersuasive essays, because I'm
(06:56):
not really about like changingsomeone's mind.
I'm about like sharing a storyand helping people to see the
value in myself and themselves.
Like using my stories to painta picture of how people can
(07:20):
learn how to love themselvesmore.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Love it.
I love that.
When you used adaptive tech,was that something you can tell
us about?
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Yes, I first started in elementary school using a
program called Co-Writer andthat was basically just what our
phones do our smart phones dowith the word prediction, and it
was just trying to make it moreefficient for me to type.
(07:54):
The thing is that, as time wenton, we have all of these
features in our smartphones, soit's actually a lot more
efficient for me to just usethat instead of like having a
PCA, like set up dragon and mymicrophone and making sure
(08:14):
everything is all set up wow,yeah, then that shows like that
the powerful thing about iPhones.
They've come a long way, but wealso have a long way to go.
We know that Siri and Alexa isnot always the most.
They don't recognize your voicevery well.
(08:36):
That's also what I'm doing withCerebral Palsy Foundation.
I am participating in studiesto help them with that, like
figure out how to make theirtechnology more accessible with
people like harder to understandvoices like mine, you still use
(09:01):
adaptive tech for writing.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Yes, what were the first things you came out with?
Speaker 1 (09:06):
I started trying to do songwriting in 2019, and I
realized that I wasn't as goodwith writing songs as when I did
it with just the lens ofwriting poetry.
I feel like when I had themindset of writing a song, I was
(09:27):
like, oh, it has to flow, thecadence has to like match.
But with poetry I'm not as likestrict with that.
I'm just like as long as itrhymes and it sounds nice.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
I really get that I really do, so I know you also
love music, right?
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Yes, as you can see, I'm a big fan of the Struts
which Lizzy from one of yourprevious episodes is also a big
fan of them, Lizzy Sunshine aswe call her.
I have their poster right herein the back of me.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
I see it, the stripes .
Speaker 1 (10:09):
I actually do have a story of one of the last times I
went to see them and firstthing I do, which is like where
I get my tickets for the venuein Minnesota, where I get my
tickets for the venue inMinnesota, they told me that I
(10:31):
had to get another VIP ticketand just I have a PCA accompany
me, so I had to pay like anextra $200 just because I needed
assistance, like getting out ofmy van and like through the
crowds and stuff, which isreally not fair.
(10:52):
Like I'm fine with paying formy PTAs, like general admission
ticket, like obviously I'm gonnapay for that because it's
something that I wanted to do.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Yeah, yeah, that's a total inconvenience that a lot
of us don't think about.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Yeah, those are the things that I've become used to
with having an disability.
Sometimes you have to put upwith those things.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Yeah, I definitely know that.
I'll know about that.
I had a.
It takes more planning.
You know you have to put alittle bit more time and you got
to be really methodical aboutit.
Yeah, it's a lot just to do,but you know it's it's worth it
just to do.
But you know it's worth itthough, right?
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Yeah, because that's when you get like a break from
all those other things that youput up with for like two hours
of fun.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Yeah, I follow you on Instagram and I see you having
a lot of fun times posting somegreat things.
Yes, I always make sure I have alot of fun and that's very
inspiring.
You know, just because when weall go through our lives and we
were talking about this theother day at another podcast we
(12:17):
were having about howappreciation, how some people
can go their whole lives withoutanything really major happening
and they think they're grateful, they actually feel that they
are grateful, but unlesssomething fundamentally big
happens, you don't get thatincredible sense of gratitude
(12:40):
that somebody who's been throughsome tough experiences.
They have a higher sense ofgratitude.
I think the other day we saidit was an explosion of gratitude
.
So would you feel that?
You know?
I think that just seems to bewhy you're smiling.
I know you are a person thathas a lot of gratitude.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Because I think it almost like helped me increase
my self-worth, because whenpeople don't give me that
respect, I have to learn how togive it to myself, vernon?
Speaker 3 (13:17):
am I understanding this right?
So let's say you're goingthrough life and nothing really
remarkable is happening, so youwould think that you're grateful
for things.
But unless you like, wake up tosome of the remarkableness of
(13:48):
what actually is happening ineveryone's life, then the amount
of gratitude can be evengreater.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
That's okay, I definitely feel that what I kind
of want to add to that is whenyou're not, like, stuck in a
routine and everything is alwaysrelatively the same, you're
going to get stuck in that rut,stuck in that repetitiveness and
sometimes, when thosemonumental things happen, it
(14:19):
will just expand your views andit fundamentally changes you as
a person.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Wow, that was perfectly said.
It definitely expands yourwhole, explodes your gratitude.
I mean, it's really what I, thegentleman said it on the
podcast we did yesterday and itkind of blew my mind because I
really realized that my own selfhad that explosion of gratitude
.
It's like I'm not saying youcan't go through life and have
(14:52):
no big things and not get thatexplosion of gratitude.
For example, I think the entireworld, the pandemic was a huge
thing that affected everyone andI think if you really look at
it, that's one of thoseexplosive things and if you get
through, you know you could havethat explosion of gratitude
from that alone.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
You don't really need to have any other thing, but if
you pay attention and there arecertain people you know they're
very sick and they have to bevery careful whenever they leave
their homes and they don't wantto get sick because that could
mean like a long time in thehospital, right, and I think
people kind of like woke up tothat it definitely expanded
(15:37):
people's awareness of each other.
Yeah, unique experiences withbeing human and one thing I want
to say.
Like the day program that I goto, yes, it does take a very
special person to actually havethe desire to want to work with
people with disabilities.
(15:57):
Do it, they become part of thefamily and they experience
disability in a way that theywould have never experienced it
without that job experience.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Such a good example, stephen Hawkins.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
That's an example of someone that he was definitely
using adaptive tech tocommunicate and, speaking of the
goal of Above, that had he wasdefinitely using adaptive tech
to communicate.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Yeah, and speaking, I have to grow above and beyond
just for people to likeunderstand how smart you are.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
It's a perfect example that you may not be,
according to other people, likethey may call us handicapped for
one reason or another, butwhat's going on in our heads,
what we're learning, isextremely valuable and the kind
(16:55):
of wisdom that comes out ofsomeone who's been through the
kind of things like yourself,people that have gone through
anything like Stephen Hawkins.
They've become unbelievablyimportant, I think, to the to
development of our human race.
Really.
I mean you, you're on the.
I feel like what I learned aboutout of the blue is that when I
(17:17):
interview different people fromdifferent walks of life with
different, different challengesor whatever it is what y'all
talking about, I feel like I'mtalking to war heroes on the
front line.
Yeah, honestly that I should besaying thank you for your
service.
Yeah, because not to denigrateour warriors, to go to protect
(17:38):
our freedom, and the Army andNavy, marines, et cetera.
But I think that we weregreatly, in a way, wasting a
huge resource by not payingattention to the warriors, such
as yourself, who are fightingthe big, biggest battle of all
and coming out the other end ofit, we're not only surviving but
(18:00):
thriving.
So I think it's an amazingexample of resilience.
But I want to hear yourthoughts.
You know, how do you thinkabout.
What do you think about out ofthe blue things?
How do you think this?
What does it think it means?
I think they're wonderful.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
I think that even when it's something tragic that
happens, something beautiful canalways come out of it, like
even like when a loved one dies.
It's like you find littlemoments where they're with you
and you never forget about them.
(18:40):
When those things happen, itjust like expands your mind and
gives you more empathy forpeople that you might not even
know there's so much we canlearn.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
You know we can learn so much from each other and I
mean I'm learning so much justtalking to you now and it's
inspiring me as well, with thatgratitude that I can see in your
face when you talk.
It's just really something veryspecial that is beyond precious
(19:17):
.
It's something that I feel likeit's I can't even give it words
.
It's hard to articulate, butit's something very special that
promotes the benevolence oflife itself.
As tough as things can be, thelove inside of a human being
(19:38):
never dies.
I mean your love light.
That's what I feel like I'mseeing with you.
It's your love light.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
And it's very important for me to feel what I
would call an everyday advocate,where I'm not going to be like
on stage in front of thousandsof people because that's not who
I am, right.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
But your life is the.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Yeah, I can live like by me living and like teaching
people that, like people withdisabilities can't go out, they
can't have fun, they can't likeexpress their ideas and opinions
what an example, what a powerof example you are for that.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
So tell me more about some things you have done.
What have you been doing latelyfor your expression?
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Lately I've just been hanging out with my family.
I have a nephew.
He just graduated preschool ohboy, and it's just wonderful
having him and like me being thefirst example of like someone
who has a disability.
And he's like not afraid oflike my wheelchair at all.
(20:53):
He's like he wants to know howit works, he likes the horn, he
knows how to like unbuckle mylike tie-downs in in the van.
He can help me with that.
He can help me like get a drink.
He does all the things that hedoesn't need to do because he
(21:17):
just wants to be helpful andlike he sees what I'm doing all
the time that's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
That's bringing the best out of your nephew, for
sure.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
He sounds like a superstar.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
And I am really proud of the person that he's
becoming just through that onelittle talk.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
I read somewhere or something, something really
important.
You should do it slowly, takeyour time.
I think we're in such a rush,people are in such a hurry and
everyone's attention spans havebecome shorter and smaller and
squished.
So we need to open that up.
We need to come back to it.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Honestly, I think that's why generally people just
don't know how to treatdisabled people, like I've had
people come up and pet me beforelike a knock, or they'll grab
me by the shoulders and say likegod bless you.
I'm like thanks, god bless youtoo yeah, like so random you.
(22:25):
It's like if you want to prayfor me to be healed, I guess,
then I just have to pray for youto be healed too, I love it.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Yeah, I mean, I bet you're subject to a lot of
people's projections too.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
The way they perceive me is the way that they treat
me, and it's like I don't haveto spend all my time probing it
wrong.
You definitely don't and, likeyou know, I have a very
interesting sense of style.
It's very colorful, very.
(23:05):
I was on the bus and thislady's like oh, you look so
pretty, is it your birthday?
I was like no, I'm just prettyyeah.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
That's really good answer.
That's right, you certainly are, you know.
So I'm hearing your story andyou went through everything in
your life growing up throughschool and dealing with those
things, and then you went backto now.
You're helping people, you'reteaching people in special
education.
Are you doing that now?
Speaker 1 (23:38):
I did for like a year and a half.
I want to say I went back andlike into the special ed room
that I went in when I was doingmy homework in high school, and
a lot of the times I feel likesome of the teachers in the
staff were just kind of likegive them the answer or like
(24:03):
point them to the answer, and Iwas like no, I'm gonna teach you
how to do this the way that Ilearned how to do this myself,
and it kind of brightens up yourday a little bit too.
It's like I do deal withanxiety, and it's mostly just
(24:23):
from me, like having to be alone.
I'm just kind of learning howto bring that ease back instead
of like feeling anxious about itfor my long time.
I'm really looking to have likea good core group of friends
that help out with that too youhave a good bunch of friends,
(24:45):
don't you?
Speaker 2 (24:45):
yeah, that is so important for everybody.
You know your value of your, ofthe people in your life, is not
lost.
I mean that to me.
If I'm going to say one thing,I see a thing connecting all the
people that I've spoken to, whohave come from all kinds of
situations, but if they havefamily and friends that love
(25:08):
them and they love in theirlives, I don't think there's.
It's almost like you're.
I feel bad for people who don't,because when I was in the
hospital, I was in there for agood long time fighting for my
life and when I finally realizedI was going to make it at least
that's what it looked likeafter a long battle, then I
(25:31):
started feeling like I wanted topay it forward, and what I
noticed was that there werepeople in the hospital that I
lived at practically for almosta year, that the ones that were
doing well had people in theirlives.
The ones who were not doingwell were just alone, and I
would.
You know I try to talk to them,but I thought maybe I could
(25:52):
come up with a way to help themthrough the podcast.
That's what I think this is.
That's why I think you aregoing to be able to help others
in your situation to see howyou're thriving.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Yeah, and I actually want to show you.
Do you know the brand Funko Pop, like?
They're like the little littledoll, like caricatures.
You can make them into yourselfyourself.
And they just came out with thewheelchairs.
I don't know if you can see herin there oh cool, I love it you
(26:25):
yeah, it's me so cool, that'sreally cool I don't think it's a
cool thing that they came outwith wheelchairs.
To be more inclusive.
Everybody wants that, everybodywants to have their own.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
Barbie and even from like I'm not totally sure the
whole thing about dolls and themyths involved in like, in like
you know, the representation ofa doll in literature, but like
they are um, seen as umintuition and magical.
(27:04):
And yeah, so it's.
It's very meaningful in our youknow, the history of of being
humans to to have this, thissymbol.
It's meaningful to have a dollin your life and then to be the
character you.
Yeah, that's pretty powerful itis.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
It is.
It's awesome.
So you are definitely living alife that I think is thriving.
I have to say there are plentyof people out there who don't do
as much.
Have as much fun as you do.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
I thank you for reminding me of that as well,
because sometimes I think thatpeople don't view my life that
way.
Seeing that you don't pity mefor no reason is nice.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Yep, people tend to write, write people off, you
know they yeah they judge us byjudge a book by its cover.
They don't open it up, theydon't see what there is there.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
I think that's also by the understanding of how,
like you, can be useful.
You know you miss a lot in aperson if you just look at like
what, if you just try toevaluate like how they can be
useful to you.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
That's one of my, the things that like drew me to the
stress as well, because theyhave a song it's called Freak
Like you.
Stress as well because theyhave a song it's called Freak
Like you and they have a lyric.
It says we all sing from thesame pages of books.
You can't judge when they cover.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
So good.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
That's cool.
And it's good to remember that,no matter how different we are,
no matter where we come from,we are all the same and we
deserve like the same level ofrespect, like at the same time.
I'm not going to beg you tolike see me as like an actual
human being.
I don't have to like put upwith that If you're not going to
(29:11):
give it to me.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
You're letting your light shine, megan.
It's something that's going tobring something to the world
that's unique, special andpowerful.
I really think you are apowerful example of human
resilience and and really joy.
(29:34):
You know, the biggest thingthat happens, I think, with
gratitude is joy.
You open up the channels tounderstand.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
And people forgot what the word joy actually means
.
It doesn't mean that your lifeis on time and remote and
perfect.
It means that you make a choice.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
I love that Beautiful .
It's true, it's true.
You know joy is so powerful.
But to access joy you have toget pretty deep into life, you
have to.
Joy is a very deep feeling andvery powerful feeling.
I mean mean, whenever I'veexperienced joy, it's, it's
(30:21):
something almost uncontrollable.
I mean, I think the first timeI experienced joy listening to
music, I was a little young guywhich should have listened to a
band for the first time and theystarted singing all these big
harmonies and stuff and Istarted my eyes started making
water coming out pouring out myeyes.
(30:43):
Yeah, I'm 14 years old, I'mgoing.
What's going on here?
Why am I all crying?
And then I started laughing andcrying at the same time I was
like what?
Is this you.
That is joy, man.
It's a powerful emotion.
More than an emotion, it'ssomething spiritual.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
And like one of the other things of joy is like I've
had plenty of experiences whereI feel like I should not be
doing as well as I am.
Like one time in the summer Ifell down the stairs at a grad
party in my chair and there justhappened to be like this huge
(31:23):
dude right there who could saveme from hitting my face on the
pavement.
You know, not many people wouldbe able to like hoist a 300
pound wheelchair back up andmake sure I'm not dead, like, so
like that's enough reason forme to believe that, like God
(31:47):
exists, you know, and I lovetelling people about these
stories that happen to bepossibly more often than they
should, but it's like if I don'tlaugh about them, then what am
I going to do?
Speaker 2 (32:04):
You've got to laugh Exactly.
So that's the I'm serious.
That's the key to success inlife learning how to laugh.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
Does that tie into the first episode with Wendy?
It kind of does, yeah, becauseshe's a comedian and I just kind
of thought about, like thefirst episode that we did with
Out of the Blue is with thiscomedian, wendy Liebman, and I
was just wondering if, likelaughter helped her heal from
(32:35):
her Out of the the blueexperience absolutely, I can
tell you right now.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
She says that a lot.
One of the things that wendysaid was uh, she healed at the
speed of love and I find thatyeah, I find that to be very um
right on, I mean it's.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
You can't say it much clearer than that and when
those things happen, you canlike feel in a different way
than you would have if thosethings never would have happened
, like I believe that you becomea better person when those like
negative experiences happen toyou.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
Becoming a better person, without a doubt great to
remember yeah, you're saying alot of very wise things today,
megan you know I I'm an old soul.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
Yeah, I think that's accurate, you are I feel like
it's not just today no no that'sthe only reason I'm pretty able
to make it this far.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
This is the stuff that you've got in your personal
bank heart account that you'vecome from living.
You know, you accumulate wisdomand you accumulate good sense
of humor.
Those are the things that comeabout if you're really paying
attention and you've got thatgratitude which you have, the
(33:58):
fact that you will.
Well, life is something else.
You know what I mean.
We're all in the same boat,we're all dealing with the same
thing, even if you don't know it.
I mean we're all heading down.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
When people say, like my disability is a gift, I
don't think people understandwhat that actually means.
It's not like oh, I'm sograteful that this happened to
me.
It's like I'm grateful that ithas given me this perspective on
life.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
Yes, you're grateful that it's given you this
perspective.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Yeah, giving it has.
You're grateful that it's givenyou this perspective.
Yeah, I don't think I would bethe same person if I didn't have
a cerebral palsy, you knowright, that's true.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Everything contributes to who you are, and
who you are is something veryspecial and yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
I like the ring too.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
You are Princess Meg.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
I think that fits you perfectly.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
I like being her.
She's cool.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
And before we say bye , I just want to say remind
anybody I'm going to put somelinks for Megan at the end of
the show so you can check outMegan's Instagram.
You want to truly be surprised.
Not just surprised, butinspired, I meant.
And if you want to see someoneliving life, follow Megan on
(35:29):
Instagram Megan the Princess.
You will be inspired.
And I just want to say thankyou so much.
Megan've brought us such somelike a lot of sunshine.
Just like your friend lizzie,you brought a lot of sunshine to
us, to our lives, and I thinkyou will do so to all those
listeners out there who will betuning in to hear megan, the
(35:52):
princess, princess, meg and umtell us all about the
inspirational things that makeher smile so infectious.
You have a very infectioussmile, megan.
It got me in a news article.
Yeah, there you go.
There it is, and whenever yousee that smile, it lights the
(36:12):
room up.
It's a very wonderful smile andI want to thank you so much for
sharing your story with ustoday.
And, like I said, you're in theout of the blue family, megan.
For better or for worse, we'rein your life.
We're mostly better, we're,we're not.
We're going to bring lots ofmore sunshine to each other's
(36:33):
lives.
That's what it it's about.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
We need more sunshine in here, that's right, megan,
we need more sunshine.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
So love to you, megan , much gratitude, see you soon
and thank you for joining us.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
Thank you so much for having me.
It was so nice to meet you, letlet's say bye to our viewers.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
Bye everybody.
Thanks for joining us and we'llsee you next time on out of the
Blue, the podcast Hosted by me,vernon West, co-hosted by
(37:23):
Jacqueline West, edited by JoeGallo, music and logo by Vernon
West III.
Have an Out of the Blue storyof your own you'd like to share?
Reach us at info atoutofthebluephen the podcast dot
org.
Subscribe to out of the blue onapple podcasts, spotify or
(37:43):
wherever you get your podcasts,and on our website out of the
blue hyphen the podcast dot org.
You can also check us out onpatreon for exclusive content.
Welcome to Out of the Blue the podcast, a platform
dedicated to celebratinginspirational stories of people
from all walks of life,overcoming life-changing
experiences, who have foundtheir way forward.
I'm your host, vernon West, andmy co-host for today's episode
is my daughter, jackie West, who, along with being our social
(00:44):
media and marketing manager, isalso a professional musician and
Reiki healer.
And I want to especially thankyou, our listeners, for joining
us here today and giving us yourprecious time and attention.
We know just how valuable thatis, and please remember to smash
that like button and hit thatsubscribe button, because
(01:06):
everything helps to get the wordout there.
Today's guest is Megan Johnsonof Burnsville, minnesota, a
writer, artist and advocate whohas never let anything,
including her cerebral palsydiagnosis at birth define her
limits.
Diagnosis at birth to find herlimits.
(01:28):
Growing up as an identical twin, megan was supported by
teachers, therapists and closefriends who helped her recognize
her potential early on.
Whether she was using adaptivetech to write or finding
creative ways to join in gymclass, megan approached life
with determination and humor.
After high school, she returnedto volunteer in the same
special education program thatonce supported her, helping
(01:51):
students unlock their ownabilities using the strategies
that worked for her.
Though college sparked herinterest in writing and media,
she quickly realized her pathwasn't a traditional one.
Megan is now focused oncreating poetry and art,
building a life that reflectsher values of independence,
authenticity and self-expression.
(02:11):
She may not speak from a stage,but her story is a powerful
form of advocacy in itself.
We're honored to welcome MeganJohnson to Out of the Blue, the
podcast.
Hi, megan, and welcome to Outof the Blue.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Hello, thank you for having me Welcome to Out of the
Blue.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Thank you.
So what brings you to our showwith Megan?
I think I pretty much spelledthat out, but I want to hear it
from you.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Yeah, that was a very nice intro.
Thank you for that.
Yeah, I was always a very goodstudent in school.
My teachers were verysupportive and I had a lot of
quality friendships, but alsosome people who, like wanted me
(02:56):
to believe that I didn't belong.
But that was kind of just likestrengthened me to become better
, you know, just like themotivation to just prove all
that wrong and just prove tomyself that I'm capable of more
(03:17):
than I think I am.
And I did have like somestories about, like elementary
school.
There was this boy who wouldmake a weird noise at me every
day and I didn't know what thatmeant, so I never responded to
him at all and I'm glad I neverdid, because I think it was at a
(03:40):
music concert.
And he comes up to me and hegoes oh, you can talk.
And I said, yeah, yeah, I cantalk.
And this is the way you shouldtalk to someone who you don't
think can talk either, becauseyou don't actually know what
their situation is like.
(04:01):
If you're not memorable, that'stotally fine.
It doesn't mean your brain isgone.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So you overcame all that stuff in elementary school
and then you built up a strongsense of your own value, because
people that supported yourecognized that, yeah, what you
had like that's.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
It's important that you recognized it too my
teachers were like very good atpointing out my strengths and
that just made me want to dobetter for them, like perform
better for myself and myteachers that were rooting for
me.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Yeah, beautiful.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Can I ask?
I don't know much aboutcerebral palsy.
Yeah, I would love to know moreabout what it is.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
So what it is?
It is considered brain damageto where the signal from your
legs doesn't like transfer toyour brain to tell your legs to
like walk and it affects yourmuscle tone.
So mine is high muscle tone.
(05:19):
Other people can have lowmuscle tone which makes them
them like loosey-goosey.
I'm like very tight in mostlymy legs.
I have spastic quadriplegiccerebral palsy, so that affects
all four of my lips.
(05:41):
My arms are more mobile than mylegs.
Like I have more range ofmotion and my body does a lot of
things that I don't want it todo.
I drop things a lot because I'mjust like if I'm super focused,
(06:01):
I'm like bringing the remote tomy tray, I'll like bringing the
remote to my tray, I'll be likealmost too focused on it and
then I'll drop it.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
You know it's really.
I love seeing you laugh.
You know you're very.
The way you look at things isvery great.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
I mean that I have a good sense of humor, otherwise I
think I would cry abouteverything totally what were the
first times you when youstarted to feel like you were an
artist?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
what kind of things started happening?
Speaker 1 (06:36):
my favorite subject in school was always English and
writing, and I was very good atit.
But I just didn't want beingtold what to write about and
having an opinion on likepersuasive essays, because I'm
(06:56):
not really about like changingsomeone's mind.
I'm about like sharing a storyand helping people to see the
value in myself and themselves.
Like using my stories to painta picture of how people can
(07:20):
learn how to love themselvesmore.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Love it.
I love that.
When you used adaptive tech,was that something you can tell
us about?
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Yes, I first started in elementary school using a
program called Co-Writer andthat was basically just what our
phones do our smart phones dowith the word prediction, and it
was just trying to make it moreefficient for me to type.
(07:54):
The thing is that, as time wenton, we have all of these
features in our smartphones, soit's actually a lot more
efficient for me to just usethat instead of like having a
PCA, like set up dragon and mymicrophone and making sure
(08:14):
everything is all set up wow,yeah, then that shows like that
the powerful thing about iPhones.
They've come a long way, but wealso have a long way to go.
We know that Siri and Alexa isnot always the most.
They don't recognize your voicevery well.
(08:36):
That's also what I'm doing withCerebral Palsy Foundation.
I am participating in studiesto help them with that, like
figure out how to make theirtechnology more accessible with
people like harder to understandvoices like mine, you still use
(09:01):
adaptive tech for writing.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Yes, what were the first things you came out with?
Speaker 1 (09:06):
I started trying to do songwriting in 2019, and I
realized that I wasn't as goodwith writing songs as when I did
it with just the lens ofwriting poetry.
I feel like when I had themindset of writing a song, I was
(09:27):
like, oh, it has to flow, thecadence has to like match.
But with poetry I'm not as likestrict with that.
I'm just like as long as itrhymes and it sounds nice.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
I really get that I really do, so I know you also
love music, right?
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Yes, as you can see, I'm a big fan of the Struts
which Lizzy from one of yourprevious episodes is also a big
fan of them, Lizzy Sunshine aswe call her.
I have their poster right herein the back of me.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
I see it, the stripes .
Speaker 1 (10:09):
I actually do have a story of one of the last times I
went to see them and firstthing I do, which is like where
I get my tickets for the venuein Minnesota, where I get my
tickets for the venue inMinnesota, they told me that I
(10:31):
had to get another VIP ticketand just I have a PCA accompany
me, so I had to pay like anextra $200 just because I needed
assistance, like getting out ofmy van and like through the
crowds and stuff, which isreally not fair.
(10:52):
Like I'm fine with paying formy PTAs, like general admission
ticket, like obviously I'm gonnapay for that because it's
something that I wanted to do.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Yeah, yeah, that's a total inconvenience that a lot
of us don't think about.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Yeah, those are the things that I've become used to
with having an disability.
Sometimes you have to put upwith those things.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Yeah, I definitely know that.
I'll know about that.
I had a.
It takes more planning.
You know you have to put alittle bit more time and you got
to be really methodical aboutit.
Yeah, it's a lot just to do,but you know it's it's worth it
just to do.
But you know it's worth itthough, right?
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Yeah, because that's when you get like a break from
all those other things that youput up with for like two hours
of fun.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Yeah, I follow you on Instagram and I see you having
a lot of fun times posting somegreat things.
Yes, I always make sure I have alot of fun and that's very
inspiring.
You know, just because when weall go through our lives and we
were talking about this theother day at another podcast we
(12:17):
were having about howappreciation, how some people
can go their whole lives withoutanything really major happening
and they think they're grateful, they actually feel that they
are grateful, but unlesssomething fundamentally big
happens, you don't get thatincredible sense of gratitude
(12:40):
that somebody who's been throughsome tough experiences.
They have a higher sense ofgratitude.
I think the other day we saidit was an explosion of gratitude
.
So would you feel that?
You know?
I think that just seems to bewhy you're smiling.
I know you are a person thathas a lot of gratitude.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Because I think it almost like helped me increase
my self-worth, because whenpeople don't give me that
respect, I have to learn how togive it to myself, vernon?
Speaker 3 (13:17):
am I understanding this right?
So let's say you're goingthrough life and nothing really
remarkable is happening, so youwould think that you're grateful
for things.
But unless you like, wake up tosome of the remarkableness of
(13:48):
what actually is happening ineveryone's life, then the amount
of gratitude can be evengreater.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
That's okay, I definitely feel that what I kind
of want to add to that is whenyou're not, like, stuck in a
routine and everything is alwaysrelatively the same, you're
going to get stuck in that rut,stuck in that repetitiveness and
sometimes, when thosemonumental things happen, it
(14:19):
will just expand your views andit fundamentally changes you as
a person.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Wow, that was perfectly said.
It definitely expands yourwhole, explodes your gratitude.
I mean, it's really what I, thegentleman said it on the
podcast we did yesterday and itkind of blew my mind because I
really realized that my own selfhad that explosion of gratitude
.
It's like I'm not saying youcan't go through life and have
(14:52):
no big things and not get thatexplosion of gratitude.
For example, I think the entireworld, the pandemic was a huge
thing that affected everyone andI think if you really look at
it, that's one of thoseexplosive things and if you get
through, you know you could havethat explosion of gratitude
from that alone.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
You don't really need to have any other thing, but if
you pay attention and there arecertain people you know they're
very sick and they have to bevery careful whenever they leave
their homes and they don't wantto get sick because that could
mean like a long time in thehospital, right, and I think
people kind of like woke up tothat it definitely expanded
(15:37):
people's awareness of each other.
Yeah, unique experiences withbeing human and one thing I want
to say.
Like the day program that I goto, yes, it does take a very
special person to actually havethe desire to want to work with
people with disabilities.
(15:57):
Do it, they become part of thefamily and they experience
disability in a way that theywould have never experienced it
without that job experience.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Such a good example, stephen Hawkins.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
That's an example of someone that he was definitely
using adaptive tech tocommunicate and, speaking of the
goal of Above, that had he wasdefinitely using adaptive tech
to communicate.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Yeah, and speaking, I have to grow above and beyond
just for people to likeunderstand how smart you are.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
It's a perfect example that you may not be,
according to other people, likethey may call us handicapped for
one reason or another, butwhat's going on in our heads,
what we're learning, isextremely valuable and the kind
(16:55):
of wisdom that comes out ofsomeone who's been through the
kind of things like yourself,people that have gone through
anything like Stephen Hawkins.
They've become unbelievablyimportant, I think, to the to
development of our human race.
Really.
I mean you, you're on the.
I feel like what I learned aboutout of the blue is that when I
(17:17):
interview different people fromdifferent walks of life with
different, different challengesor whatever it is what y'all
talking about, I feel like I'mtalking to war heroes on the
front line.
Yeah, honestly that I should besaying thank you for your
service.
Yeah, because not to denigrateour warriors, to go to protect
(17:38):
our freedom, and the Army andNavy, marines, et cetera.
But I think that we weregreatly, in a way, wasting a
huge resource by not payingattention to the warriors, such
as yourself, who are fightingthe big, biggest battle of all
and coming out the other end ofit, we're not only surviving but
(18:00):
thriving.
So I think it's an amazingexample of resilience.
But I want to hear yourthoughts.
You know, how do you thinkabout.
What do you think about out ofthe blue things?
How do you think this?
What does it think it means?
I think they're wonderful.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
I think that even when it's something tragic that
happens, something beautiful canalways come out of it, like
even like when a loved one dies.
It's like you find littlemoments where they're with you
and you never forget about them.
(18:40):
When those things happen, itjust like expands your mind and
gives you more empathy forpeople that you might not even
know there's so much we canlearn.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
You know we can learn so much from each other and I
mean I'm learning so much justtalking to you now and it's
inspiring me as well, with thatgratitude that I can see in your
face when you talk.
It's just really something veryspecial that is beyond precious
(19:17):
.
It's something that I feel likeit's I can't even give it words
.
It's hard to articulate, butit's something very special that
promotes the benevolence oflife itself.
As tough as things can be, thelove inside of a human being
(19:38):
never dies.
I mean your love light.
That's what I feel like I'mseeing with you.
It's your love light.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
And it's very important for me to feel what I
would call an everyday advocate,where I'm not going to be like
on stage in front of thousandsof people because that's not who
I am, right.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
But your life is the.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Yeah, I can live like by me living and like teaching
people that, like people withdisabilities can't go out, they
can't have fun, they can't likeexpress their ideas and opinions
what an example, what a powerof example you are for that.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
So tell me more about some things you have done.
What have you been doing latelyfor your expression?
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Lately I've just been hanging out with my family.
I have a nephew.
He just graduated preschool ohboy, and it's just wonderful
having him and like me being thefirst example of like someone
who has a disability.
And he's like not afraid oflike my wheelchair at all.
(20:53):
He's like he wants to know howit works, he likes the horn, he
knows how to like unbuckle mylike tie-downs in in the van.
He can help me with that.
He can help me like get a drink.
He does all the things that hedoesn't need to do because he
(21:17):
just wants to be helpful andlike he sees what I'm doing all
the time that's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
That's bringing the best out of your nephew, for
sure.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
He sounds like a superstar.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
And I am really proud of the person that he's
becoming just through that onelittle talk.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
I read somewhere or something, something really
important.
You should do it slowly, takeyour time.
I think we're in such a rush,people are in such a hurry and
everyone's attention spans havebecome shorter and smaller and
squished.
So we need to open that up.
We need to come back to it.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Honestly, I think that's why generally people just
don't know how to treatdisabled people, like I've had
people come up and pet me beforelike a knock, or they'll grab
me by the shoulders and say likegod bless you.
I'm like thanks, god bless youtoo yeah, like so random you.
(22:25):
It's like if you want to prayfor me to be healed, I guess,
then I just have to pray for youto be healed too, I love it.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Yeah, I mean, I bet you're subject to a lot of
people's projections too.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
The way they perceive me is the way that they treat
me, and it's like I don't haveto spend all my time probing it
wrong.
You definitely don't and, likeyou know, I have a very
interesting sense of style.
It's very colorful, very.
(23:05):
I was on the bus and thislady's like oh, you look so
pretty, is it your birthday?
I was like no, I'm just prettyyeah.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
That's really good answer.
That's right, you certainly are, you know.
So I'm hearing your story andyou went through everything in
your life growing up throughschool and dealing with those
things, and then you went backto now.
You're helping people, you'reteaching people in special
education.
Are you doing that now?
Speaker 1 (23:38):
I did for like a year and a half.
I want to say I went back andlike into the special ed room
that I went in when I was doingmy homework in high school, and
a lot of the times I feel likesome of the teachers in the
staff were just kind of likegive them the answer or like
(24:03):
point them to the answer, and Iwas like no, I'm gonna teach you
how to do this the way that Ilearned how to do this myself,
and it kind of brightens up yourday a little bit too.
It's like I do deal withanxiety, and it's mostly just
(24:23):
from me, like having to be alone.
I'm just kind of learning howto bring that ease back instead
of like feeling anxious about itfor my long time.
I'm really looking to have likea good core group of friends
that help out with that too youhave a good bunch of friends,
(24:45):
don't you?
Speaker 2 (24:45):
yeah, that is so important for everybody.
You know your value of your, ofthe people in your life, is not
lost.
I mean that to me.
If I'm going to say one thing,I see a thing connecting all the
people that I've spoken to, whohave come from all kinds of
situations, but if they havefamily and friends that love
(25:08):
them and they love in theirlives, I don't think there's.
It's almost like you're.
I feel bad for people who don't,because when I was in the
hospital, I was in there for agood long time fighting for my
life and when I finally realizedI was going to make it at least
that's what it looked likeafter a long battle, then I
(25:31):
started feeling like I wanted topay it forward, and what I
noticed was that there werepeople in the hospital that I
lived at practically for almosta year, that the ones that were
doing well had people in theirlives.
The ones who were not doingwell were just alone, and I
would.
You know I try to talk to them,but I thought maybe I could
(25:52):
come up with a way to help themthrough the podcast.
That's what I think this is.
That's why I think you aregoing to be able to help others
in your situation to see howyou're thriving.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Yeah, and I actually want to show you.
Do you know the brand Funko Pop, like?
They're like the little littledoll, like caricatures.
You can make them into yourselfyourself.
And they just came out with thewheelchairs.
I don't know if you can see herin there oh cool, I love it you
(26:25):
yeah, it's me so cool, that'sreally cool I don't think it's a
cool thing that they came outwith wheelchairs.
To be more inclusive.
Everybody wants that, everybodywants to have their own.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
Barbie and even from like I'm not totally sure the
whole thing about dolls and themyths involved in like, in like
you know, the representation ofa doll in literature, but like
they are um, seen as umintuition and magical.
(27:04):
And yeah, so it's.
It's very meaningful in our youknow, the history of of being
humans to to have this, thissymbol.
It's meaningful to have a dollin your life and then to be the
character you.
Yeah, that's pretty powerful itis.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
It is.
It's awesome.
So you are definitely living alife that I think is thriving.
I have to say there are plentyof people out there who don't do
as much.
Have as much fun as you do.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
I thank you for reminding me of that as well,
because sometimes I think thatpeople don't view my life that
way.
Seeing that you don't pity mefor no reason is nice.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Yep, people tend to write, write people off, you
know they yeah they judge us byjudge a book by its cover.
They don't open it up, theydon't see what there is there.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
I think that's also by the understanding of how,
like you, can be useful.
You know you miss a lot in aperson if you just look at like
what, if you just try toevaluate like how they can be
useful to you.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
That's one of my, the things that like drew me to the
stress as well, because theyhave a song it's called Freak
Like you.
Stress as well because theyhave a song it's called Freak
Like you and they have a lyric.
It says we all sing from thesame pages of books.
You can't judge when they cover.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
So good.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
That's cool.
And it's good to remember that,no matter how different we are,
no matter where we come from,we are all the same and we
deserve like the same level ofrespect, like at the same time.
I'm not going to beg you tolike see me as like an actual
human being.
I don't have to like put upwith that If you're not going to
(29:11):
give it to me.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
You're letting your light shine, megan.
It's something that's going tobring something to the world
that's unique, special andpowerful.
I really think you are apowerful example of human
resilience and and really joy.
(29:34):
You know, the biggest thingthat happens, I think, with
gratitude is joy.
You open up the channels tounderstand.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
And people forgot what the word joy actually means
.
It doesn't mean that your lifeis on time and remote and
perfect.
It means that you make a choice.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
I love that Beautiful .
It's true, it's true.
You know joy is so powerful.
But to access joy you have toget pretty deep into life, you
have to.
Joy is a very deep feeling andvery powerful feeling.
I mean mean, whenever I'veexperienced joy, it's, it's
(30:21):
something almost uncontrollable.
I mean, I think the first timeI experienced joy listening to
music, I was a little young guywhich should have listened to a
band for the first time and theystarted singing all these big
harmonies and stuff and Istarted my eyes started making
water coming out pouring out myeyes.
(30:43):
Yeah, I'm 14 years old, I'mgoing.
What's going on here?
Why am I all crying?
And then I started laughing andcrying at the same time I was
like what?
Is this you.
That is joy, man.
It's a powerful emotion.
More than an emotion, it'ssomething spiritual.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
And like one of the other things of joy is like I've
had plenty of experiences whereI feel like I should not be
doing as well as I am.
Like one time in the summer Ifell down the stairs at a grad
party in my chair and there justhappened to be like this huge
(31:23):
dude right there who could saveme from hitting my face on the
pavement.
You know, not many people wouldbe able to like hoist a 300
pound wheelchair back up andmake sure I'm not dead, like, so
like that's enough reason forme to believe that, like God
(31:47):
exists, you know, and I lovetelling people about these
stories that happen to bepossibly more often than they
should, but it's like if I don'tlaugh about them, then what am
I going to do?
Speaker 2 (32:04):
You've got to laugh Exactly.
So that's the I'm serious.
That's the key to success inlife learning how to laugh.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
Does that tie into the first episode with Wendy?
It kind of does, yeah, becauseshe's a comedian and I just kind
of thought about, like thefirst episode that we did with
Out of the Blue is with thiscomedian, wendy Liebman, and I
was just wondering if, likelaughter helped her heal from
(32:35):
her Out of the the blueexperience absolutely, I can
tell you right now.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
She says that a lot.
One of the things that wendysaid was uh, she healed at the
speed of love and I find thatyeah, I find that to be very um
right on, I mean it's.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
You can't say it much clearer than that and when
those things happen, you canlike feel in a different way
than you would have if thosethings never would have happened
, like I believe that you becomea better person when those like
negative experiences happen toyou.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
Becoming a better person, without a doubt great to
remember yeah, you're saying alot of very wise things today,
megan you know I I'm an old soul.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
Yeah, I think that's accurate, you are I feel like
it's not just today no no that'sthe only reason I'm pretty able
to make it this far.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
This is the stuff that you've got in your personal
bank heart account that you'vecome from living.
You know, you accumulate wisdomand you accumulate good sense
of humor.
Those are the things that comeabout if you're really paying
attention and you've got thatgratitude which you have, the
(33:58):
fact that you will.
Well, life is something else.
You know what I mean.
We're all in the same boat,we're all dealing with the same
thing, even if you don't know it.
I mean we're all heading down.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
When people say, like my disability is a gift, I
don't think people understandwhat that actually means.
It's not like oh, I'm sograteful that this happened to
me.
It's like I'm grateful that ithas given me this perspective on
life.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
Yes, you're grateful that it's given you this
perspective.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Yeah, giving it has.
You're grateful that it's givenyou this perspective.
Yeah, I don't think I would bethe same person if I didn't have
a cerebral palsy, you knowright, that's true.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Everything contributes to who you are, and
who you are is something veryspecial and yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
I like the ring too.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
You are Princess Meg.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
I think that fits you perfectly.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
I like being her.
She's cool.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
And before we say bye , I just want to say remind
anybody I'm going to put somelinks for Megan at the end of
the show so you can check outMegan's Instagram.
You want to truly be surprised.
Not just surprised, butinspired, I meant.
And if you want to see someoneliving life, follow Megan on
(35:29):
Instagram Megan the Princess.
You will be inspired.
And I just want to say thankyou so much.
Megan've brought us such somelike a lot of sunshine.
Just like your friend lizzie,you brought a lot of sunshine to
us, to our lives, and I thinkyou will do so to all those
listeners out there who will betuning in to hear megan, the
(35:52):
princess, princess, meg and umtell us all about the
inspirational things that makeher smile so infectious.
You have a very infectioussmile, megan.
It got me in a news article.
Yeah, there you go.
There it is, and whenever yousee that smile, it lights the
(36:12):
room up.
It's a very wonderful smile andI want to thank you so much for
sharing your story with ustoday.
And, like I said, you're in theout of the blue family, megan.
For better or for worse, we'rein your life.
We're mostly better, we're,we're not.
We're going to bring lots ofmore sunshine to each other's
(36:33):
lives.
That's what it it's about.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
We need more sunshine in here, that's right, megan,
we need more sunshine.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
So love to you, megan , much gratitude, see you soon
and thank you for joining us.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
Thank you so much for having me.
It was so nice to meet you, letlet's say bye to our viewers.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
Bye everybody.
Thanks for joining us and we'llsee you next time on out of the
Blue, the podcast Hosted by me,vernon West, co-hosted by
(37:23):
Jacqueline West, edited by JoeGallo, music and logo by Vernon
West III.
Have an Out of the Blue storyof your own you'd like to share?
Reach us at info atoutofthebluephen the podcast dot
org.
Subscribe to out of the blue onapple podcasts, spotify or
(37:43):
wherever you get your podcasts,and on our website out of the
blue hyphen the podcast dot org.
You can also check us out onpatreon for exclusive content.
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