Negative slogan gives negative outcome?

by Philip Patston
The slogan, “Nothing about us without us” has been bandied around the international “disability” community for years and it has just been heralded, at the Disability Intergroup of the European Parliament and the European Disability Forum (EDF) in Brussels, as “the motto … calling for a full participation of disabled people in all policies.” It was described by the President of the EDF as “an historic day for the 65 million persons with disabilities” where inclusion ”is becoming a reality.”


Really? I think the only reality this motto is creating is exclusion. In terms of genuine participation in political change, disabled people still get “nothing” about us, and that nothing happens “without” us.

When are disabled people going to get it? Why do we keep putting negative ideas into the quantum field by using negative language? When we think “disabled”, we get disabled. When we think, “nothing” and “without”, bingo! We get it.

“Everything about us with us,” is the energy we need to be generating. We need to be labeling ourselves as unique, not disabled. We need to be thinking of ourselves as part of the natural diversity of humankind, not excluded and in need of inclusion. We need to be creating a positive reality.

If you don’t believe me, consider this ancient story from the Sioux Nation:

The Creator gathered all of Creation and said, “I want to hide something from the humans until they are ready for it. It is the realisation that they create their own reality.”

The eagle said, “Give it to me, I will take it to the moon.”

The Creator said, “No. One day they will go there and find it.”

The salmon said, “I will bury it at the bottom of the ocean.”

“No. They will go there too.”

The buffalo said, “I will bury it on the Great Plains.”

The Creator said, “They will cut into the skin of the Earth and find it even there.”

Then Grandmother Mole, who lives in the breast of Mother Earth and who has no physical eyes but sees with spiritual eyes, said, “Put it inside of them.”

And the Creator said, “It is done.”

If you agree and would like to discuss this with me more, help me form the WISE SPECIES social network on Facebook. It’s a social experiment to see what happens when we purposefully create a positive reality by reframing negative thoughts.

I look forward to talking with you.

Diversity New Zealand