Defying RA: Defying Gravity!

I figured it was high time I told you a little more about myself... as you will know, I'm Rebecca.  My initials are RAW - ironic, then, that I was diagnosed with RA - and as a Leo, I do tend to roar a bit!

My day job is as a pharmacist, which means I'm a little more in tune with my medications than most patients.  Outside of that, though, I love music.  Always have - it absorbed the vast majority of my time growing up, and I'm a bit of a musical theatre nerd.  I performed in a few productions growing up, but the demands of working full-time, studying part-time, trying to have a life on top of that, and then the exhaustion of having RA mean that as much as I'd love to do it again, I simply haven't got the energy (oh, or the time).  Doesn't mean I don't sing my lungs out in the shower, or around the house, or in the car, or pretty much anywhere to be perfectly honest!

Defying Rheumatoid Arthritis seemed like the most logical name for my blog for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, my aim has always been to defy the diagnosis of RA, and prove that it doesn't have to be a negative thing.  Secondly, 'Wicked' has always been one of my favourite musicals - my dream role is to play Elphaba one day! - and "Defying Gravity" is, in my humble opinion, one of the most incredible pieces of music ever written for the stage.  If you haven't seen or heard it, I've written out some of the lyrics that make it ring so true for me (The fact that I live in Australia (Oz) is just a bonus...!):

Something has changed within me

Something is not the same

I 'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts 

Close my eyes: and leap!

I'm through accepting limits  

'Cause someone says they're so  

Some things I cannot change  

But till I try, I'll never know!  

Too long I've been afraid of  

Losing love I guess I've lost  

Well, if that's love 

It comes at much too high a cost! 

So if you care to find me  

Look to the western sky!  

As someone told me lately: 

"Ev'ryone deserves the chance to fly!"  

And if I'm flying solo 

At least I'm flying free  

To those who'd ground me  

Take a message back from me 

Tell them how I am  

Defying gravity  

I'm flying high 

Defying gravity  

And soon I'll match them in renown  

And nobody in all of Oz  

No Wizard that there is or was 

Is ever gonna bring me down!

I'm defying gravity every day.  And while I'm flying solo, I am flying free - and you can't put a price on freedom.  I hope this song inspires more people with RA to defy gravity today and every day!

If you are going to hop onto YouTube to find this song so you can hear it, I'd highly recommend you listen to a version by Idina Menzel, who is the original Elphaba from the Broadway production of Wicked - other versions are good, but hers is absolutely sublime!