I treat my persona on the internet like it is an extension of myself. I do not mask my complexity, my identity (if anyone cares to dig), and I hold myself to a universal moral standard that is entirely my own. If someone is rude, I delete my comments, block them, and move on just like I would if I met them elsewhere. I want to be helpful, to engage, but also to just be myself. I’m disabled, and in a lot of pain. I need the chance to think out what I am saying and to do this social engagement in between projects and other tasks. When I feel my limitations, I think about Stephen Hawking and what it must have been like with ALS. While other people’s problems do nothing to help with my own, I still find it helpful to keep in mind that it can always be worse until the day it can’t, and nothing really matters once you’re gone. So you might as well remember today for the glass half full before the rose colored glasses in your future force the perspective on you later. I try not to focus on the negative any more than this.