Own the Equinox: It’s Your Day, Do Whatcha Wanna Do

Own the Equinox: It’s Your Day, Do Whatcha Wanna Do

August 12, 2015

by Mark Dunning

Maybe running isn’t your thing. Or maybe you have an idea of your own. A special talent, maybe, something you want to share with the Usher syndrome community, share with the world.

Go for it! Create your own a-thon and help us Own the Equinox.

You like baking? Awesome! Do an Own the Equinox bake-a-thon. You don’t even have to leave your kitchen. Bake a pie a day for 26 days, starting on August 25th. Maybe save your best recipe for Usher Syndrome Awareness Day on September 19th. Or maybe bake 10 pies on September 19th (Then send one to me. I love pie.)

Tweet about it, every day. Instagram your pies. Post the recipes on Facebook. Bake them with #USHEQX in the crust.

Show the world the challenges Usher syndrome presents to something as simple as baking a pie. Write a blog about how you shop in a supermarket, how you memorize the aisles and the shelves so you can find the ingredients. Instagram your cupboard after you labeled your cans and bags and bottles in braille so you can find them. Help us educate the world to the challenges we face in this Usher syndrome community. Then post a picture of that perfect pie and show them what we can accomplish.

Or maybe you prefer yoga. Great! Do your own yoga-thon. Yoga, 26 days straight. Instagram pictures of yourself doing the positions. Blog about the pressures of Usher syndrome and how yoga helps clear your mind. #USHEQX

It doesn’t matter what you do. Want to hold an Own the Equinox cornhole tournament on September 19th, Usher Syndrome Awareness Day? Terrific! Blog about how cornhole is accessible even though your visual field has narrowed because the target is far enough out that you can see it. Instagram pictures of the big day. And donate the proceeds to the Usher Syndrome Coalition.

You prefer biking to running. Good. Do a bike-a-thon. Like to read. Do a read-a-thon. Blog about how much you would hate to lose the ability to read. Or about how you have adapted to keep your love of reading alive. Want to play video games? Great. Hold a FIFA 2015 tournament and invite participation from other online gamers. Run the tournament for 25 days and hold the final on September 19th. Tweet the name of the daily winners. #USHEQX

All of those things help raise awareness about Usher syndrome. All of them demonstrate both the difficulties this community faces and the determination we have. It floods social media with our cause and our resolve. And if you can find a way to raise awareness AND raise some money for the Usher Syndrome Coalition, well that’s just whip cream on the pie. It will help us deliver treatments that much sooner.

So do your thing. Join us in Fairbanks, Alaska for the Equinox Marathon. Do the mile-a-thon in your own home town. Or create your own a-thon. Just get involved and help us Own the Equinox.