Date: Wednesday, February 18, 20:00 -21:00

Title: Beyond the Body Box: Navigating Disability, Aging, and the Communities That Shape Us

Speaker:  Fiona Creaser

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Outline: This talk offers a deeply personal exploration of living with disability as we age, examining the communities that include us and those that exclude us. Through examples from my own life, I will examine how our communities either accommodate difference or force conformity to an imagined "correct body box."

 

Drawing on both personal narrative and broader reflections on community connections, I will explore what makes communities healthy versus unhealthy, inclusive versus exclusive. As I age with a disability, I am constantly adapting and developing alternative techniques for daily life. My success depends not just on my own resilience, but on whether the communities around me choose to include rather than exclude.

 

This presentation challenges participants to examine their own communities with fresh eyes and consider: What does inclusion truly mean? How do our everyday choices shape whether someone belongs? And what actions can each of us take to build communities that choose inclusion? 

 

Speaker: Fiona Creaser is a professor at the University of Kitakyushu and specializes in gender and diversity. She was born with one hand and has been living in Japan for more than 30 years. She has three great children and a wonderful husband who also adapts to her journey as an aging woman with a disability living in Japan. 

 

Please note that this talk will be recorded and that a link to the video will be made available on request to Counterpoint members who have filled out our membership form and paid their annual fee. If you haven't yet filled out our membership application form, please use this link and pay your fee. https://forms.gle/R8p9wCmMYQ2abyVG7

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Mark your calendar for Counterpoint Spring Retreat!

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Event: Counterpoint Spring Retreat

Dates: March 9-11, 2026 ( Monday-Wednesday)

Details: Please contact Amanda for details.

Venue website: https://www.ikyu.com/en-us/00031211/

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We are very excited to announce our plans for a 3-day retreat (Mon 9 – Wed 11 March) at a small temple (Konkoin) in the Okazaki area in Kyoto. The temple has a delightful space for workshops and other activities, a beautiful garden, and offers overnight accommodation for those who wish to stay. Our plan is for people to join a creative writing workshop in the mornings and a relaxing, skill-building session in the afternoons. There will also be plenty of time for socializing. People living in Kyoto need not stay overnight unless they want to.

And you need not stay at the temple if you are from out of town. Please feel free to find your own accommodation.

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