Non-TS subject matter by TSers - Why This Site Exists
By Artist:
1) Rachel Wurzman
Two poems which describe a relationship with a TS body.
2)"Moma Touresa"
Everyone loves a punster, and our Moma Touresa delves into TS's positivities with her anTICS!
3) It doesn't HAVE to be art about TS!
Help me celebrate the increased creativity of our haywired brains by sending in pieces that aren't TS-related!!
Attach it in an email to [email protected]
This is a PERSONAL site managed by Rachel Wurzman, B.A. Neuroscience (Smith College), currently a Post-Baccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award Fellow at the NIH. She is studying sensory symptoms inTS and other movement disorders.
you don't need to either! Just express yourself!
As a Touretter, I've found many sites online which do many things for us: they suggest research studies you can participate in, they provide support, and they deliver resouces for dealing with this quirky "syndrome" of ours.
What I don't see as much of are sites which celebrate Tourette Syndrome!
This site intends to change that. Ours is a gift, people, a beautiful gift. Think about it! How much have you experienced that your friends haven't? From our struggles to make our personalities or senses of humor bolder than our tics, so that tics do not define our images, we have gained insight into ourselves and a sense of empathy for those who also have personal challenges.
We are hyper! We are brilliant, and we are very often exceptionally creative. I don't know about you, but my mind works differently in ways that give me different types of ideas compared to the people I work with, and it's an advantage! Are you a visual artist? Are you a poet? Are you a singer, actor, or althlete? I believe very strongly that Tourette's is a gift to us in these activities and can inspire us and excite us.
One day, I found myself writing a poem to my TS. It was like a love poem-- it is a complex relationship that I have with my body and my Tourette's, but for me, it always boils down to a sense of identity. I don't think I'd accept a cure for my TS! It's too much a part of who I am, how I exist within my body, and how I think of myself; my struggles to be successful not only in spite of it but BECAUSE of it have shaped me deeply.
I CELEBRATE my TS with creative works which show the complexity, but usually the positive nature, of what it means to live with our brains. We were wired differently, and our experiences give us an artful way of moving (and like all art, our movements can be violent, disruptive, or challenging) and artful souls.
I invite you to submit poems, scanned pieces of visual art, stories, essays, and photographs which express how you feel towards your TS. They don't have to be entirely positive or traumatic, either-- they can be whatever you want, however you feel about TS. Submissions from all ages are welcomed, and they can be as PG or explicit as desired. My only goal is to create a forum in which TS is creatively celebrated for its creativity!
