While I am typically a cheerful and “bright side” kind of person, it feels totally inauthentic for me to talk about my journey as though it has been a blessing. I have no pat advice for anyone on a similar journey. I have my own unique coping strategies, but they help inconsistently. Of course, I’ve learned things along the way, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I carry a tremendous amount of grief for the years I have lived with unpredictable health. There have been countless performing opportunities I have shied away from and I’ll never know if I might have had a more significant performance career if my primary life obstacle wasn’t living with chronic illness.

I dreaded singing in performance settings. The anxiety around it made the symptoms worse. I knew what I was capable of and it killed me to not be able to share it. I could demonstrate all kinds of things for students in lessons, but trying to sing a whole song felt near impossible when I was closed.

Is there a link? Probably. It won't surprise anyone that more research is needed. Nonetheless, there is enough evidence that hormonal contexts including puberty, the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, lactation, and the menopause transition can impact people with symptomatic hypermobility, HSD, and hEDS/EDS. Furthermore, research that looks at the voice in these contexts has so far gotten scant attention.

One of the biggest continued anxieties regarding my conditions is how much to disclose to be taken seriously without oversharing. My symptoms, characteristic to these conditions and many chronic conditions, are dynamic, so I often do not need to utilize my accommodations, but they are an important tool to have in place for times I do need them. This is something I struggle, even now, to convey to my professors when I disclose.