Welcome to another week of "Why I..." Wednesday!
This week, I'm so privileged to share the story of Chulwon Karma Park, an amazing run-streaker who lives with rheumatoid arthritis, and also recently came out as transgender. She was gracious enough to share her story with me, and the Run Over Depression community.
"I run because there was a significant portion of my life when I couldn’t and it was something I never thought I could do. One day I decided to put that thought away for good and decided to tackle the beast that is running. I approached it like a skill to be learned rather than an innate activity to refine. So it’s one of the things in life I’ve overcome so now I love to run and don’t take it for granted.
"I became self-aware of my transness sometime around 2013-2014. I was concerned about making life more difficult than necessary for our children. [My wife and I] decided I would just make a sacrifice and force this image of heteronormativity. That didn't work out, and I was growing increasingly unhappy. In October 2020, I was at the end of my rope. I was in so much pain from a rheumatoid arthritis flare, and my dysphoria was at an all-time high. The constant attacks on transgender rights in the media made things only worse. In November, I began to live my truth. As dark of a place as I was in, this was a huge turning point for us because we were about to embark on a journey no one had prepared us for. It has been scary. But it made us stronger, bolder, and living life with more conviction.
"One day, my son had come home from playing with the neighborhood children and called me a "Chinaman" and made slant eyes at me and said "Ching Chong". It was at that point I realized that there was no point in trying to shield my children from bigotry because of my transness - they had already gotten a taste of racist micro-aggressions. This made me realize that my approach was wrong altogether. Instead of shielding them from all this, I needed to prepare them to handle it better. This meant that I needed to start living my truth now. Not after they leave home for college, not at some undetermined time in the future, but now.
"I definitely think that running helped my decision to go public. It has afforded me hours upon hours to reflect on my thoughts, my life, etc.
"One morning, my son brought me this Lego figurine of me that he had put together and told me that he loved me as a dad, but he loves me even more now as a mom, since I began transitioning. (I answer to both dad and mom, as I have always done.) My heart is full. ❤️"
As of this posting, Karma is on Run Streak Day 2574. You can follow her journey on Instagram @streakinginsandals and on TikTok @transkarma.
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