As an Influencer here at SeeAbility, one of Emily Stewart’s personal priorities is to ensure everybody’s voice is heard. Emily got involved with #TheBigConversation, in the hopes that sharing her experience of living with a disability would inspire others to think from multiple perspectives, in addition to their own.

"What does it mean to live a good life?"

#TheBigConversation is a series of conversations planned throughout the year, where we ask big questions of ourselves and the people around us.

Over the last few months we’ve been talking about how we LIVE, asking the question, “What does it mean to give a good life?” We've been using the balance chart (our self-improvement wellbeing tool developed with the wellbeing experts at LifeClubs) to work out where we need to find balance in our lives. Emily has been taking part as well, and has given us some great insight into her life. She has also shared her thoughts on key issues she feels aren’t spoken about enough:

“I think sometimes people don’t realise that their lack of understanding can affect others in a really negative way.”

Think of others

Recently, Emily has been looking into how she can raise awareness of ‘pavement parking’. Have you ever been walking along a path and someone has parked their vehicle in your way? For some it’s simply a case of walking around the obstruction, but for others pavement parking can cause some extremely unpleasant experiences.

Alongside pavement parking forcing wheelchair and mobility scooter users onto the road, it can also cause issues for people with a visual impairment who aren’t expecting to collide with the parked vehicle. Click here to read more about how the government are planning to tackle pavement parking.

Another topic Emily has brought up is the increase in the closure of bank branches since the start of the pandemic, with those who benefit from in-person services having to either travel further to a different branch or start using online banking. These changes can obviously be daunting when they’re something you’re not familiar with:

“Sometimes when I’ve tried to contact my bank through the phone, I’ve been told that my support staff aren’t allowed to read my security data if I’ve forgotten the details. It isn’t helpful when they don’t acknowledge that not everyone can see, or needs help remembering their security information."

Following on from this conversation and with the support from our Creating Connections programme, Emily was able to access a training course that has enabled her to get a greater understanding of online banking. If you’d like to find out more about getting onto online banking, click here to take the course.

"What does belonging mean to you?"

“The work I have been doing as an Influencer has grown my confidence and made me feel like the things I say and do matter. I feel proud.”

We have now moved on to our second conversation talking about how we can feel like we BELONG, asking the question, “What does belonging mean to you?” Emily said:

“We all want to live in a world that allows us to feel like we belong."

For Emily, having a community around her, feeling appreciated and feeling valued are important for her overall sense of belonging, alongside taking part in activities that she enjoys. If she’s ever going through a difficult time, Emily’s favourite song ‘What a beautiful name’ by Hillsong Worship always reminds her that she’s never alone. Along with family, friends and support staff, it’s her community within her faith and her church, that make Emily feel that she truly belongs. Surrounding yourself with people you trust and are comfortable around can make all the difference to feeling like you belong.

“Sometimes people just need someone with them to encourage them and let them know they are more than capable of doing something, even if they are feeling nervous.”

To feel heard, it’s important that people feel others around them are actively listening and engaging with them. Emily said:

“Telling someone that others have it worse is unhelpful and only makes them feel small. It’s far better to let them know you are there for them and it will be okay.”

What makes you feel like you belong? Email us at media@seeability.org or join in #TheBigConversation on social media and look out for more from Emily as we talk about the importance of belonging.

Download your free balance chart

Bring balance to your life with our free downloadable balance chart. Just fill in your details below and we'll email you the balance chart so you can get started on your journey to living a more balanced life. We'll stay in touch to send you helpful tips, wellbeing visualisations and inspiration to keep you motivated.