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Vanessa Osman

@vanessaosman

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Voice-Over Artist | Actor | Speaker 🇪🇬 🇮🇪 🇺🇸
📖 for Limitless @accessabilitiesexpo
🎬 in ANY ONE OF US @hbo
🏷️ of @adapts_team

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29 days of spinal cord injury awareness and I think we’ve established I contain multitudes. 😂
Soft. Loud. Spiritual. Sarcastic. Grateful. Complicated. Creative. Unapologetically powerful.
None of those things require an inspirational ending.
Neither does this photo.
Day 29 of 30. ♿️

#SCIAwarenessMonth #DisabilityVisibility #SpinalCordInjury #PeopleOfDetermination #VanessaOsman

29 يومًا من التوعية بإصابات الحبل الشوكي، وأعتقد أننا أثبتنا أنني أحتوي على عوالم كثيرة بداخلي. 😂t
ناعمة. صاخبة. روحانية. ساخرة. ممتنة. معقدة. مبدعة. قوية بلا اعتذار.
لا يحتاج أي جانب من هذه الجوانب إلى نهاية ملهمة.
ولا هذه الصورة أيضًا.
اليوم 29 من 30. ♿️

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I almost didn’t post today. I don’t really have anything profound to say.
But then I looked at this photo.
My head tipped back, sun on my face. Probably my happiest place on earth.
There’s something that happens to me in the sun that I can’t quite explain. Everything gets quiet. I feel present. Connected. Like whatever I’ve been carrying loosens its grip for a minute.
Connected to what? I don’t know that I need to define it.
Maybe God. Maybe nature. Maybe energy. Maybe simply myself.
There are some things we spend too much time trying to put into words when maybe we’re just supposed to feel them.
This is one of mine.
Day 27 of 30. ♿️

#SCIAwarenessMonth #Mindfulness #SpinalCordInjury #PeopleOfDetermination #VanessaOsman

كدت ألا أنشر اليوم. ليس لدي حقًا أي شيء عميق لأقوله.
لكن بعد ذلك نظرت إلى هذه الصورة.
رأسي مائل إلى الخلف، والشمس على وجهي. ربما هذا هو أسعد مكان لي على وجه الأرض.
هناك شيء يحدث لي تحت أشعة الشمس لا أستطيع تفسيره تمامًا. كل شيء يصبح هادئًا. أشعر بأنني حاضرة. متصلة. وكأن كل ما كنت أحمله يخفف قبضته عني للحظة.
متصلة بماذا؟ لا أعتقد أنني بحاجة إلى تعريف ذلك.
ربما بالله. ربما بالطبيعة. ربما بالطاقة. وربما ببساطة بنفسي.
هناك أشياء نقضي وقتًا طويلًا جدًا في محاولة وضعها في كلمات، بينما ربما يُفترض بنا فقط أن نشعر بها.
وهذا واحد منها بالنسبة لي.
اليوم السابع والعشرون من 30. ♿️

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Freedom has a speed setting.
I’ve been a lot of places in this chair over the last 22 years. But these days, going places is even better with Lil Bit by my side.
One of the easiest things to do when life gets hard is isolate. Stay home. Cancel. Tell yourself it’s too complicated. With a spinal cord injury, sometimes it actually IS complicated. Getting out the door can require planning, help, accessible transportation and a whole lot more energy than anyone sees.
But I’ve learned that I have to get into action anyway.
There’s a line Johann Hari made famous in his TED Talk: “The opposite of addiction is connection.” I think about that idea beyond addiction too. We need connection. Other people. Animals. Nature. Purpose. Something outside the four walls and outside our own heads.
Sometimes I don’t need another breakthrough; I just need to get out of the bloody house.
Preferably at full speed with this one beside me.
Day 26 of 30. ♿️

#SCIAwarenessMonth #DisabilityVisibility #SpinalCordInjury #LilBit #VanessaOsman

للحرية إعداد للسرعة.
ذهبت إلى أماكن كثيرة بهذا الكرسي خلال الـ22 عامًا الماضية. لكن في هذه الأيام، أصبح الذهاب إلى الأماكن أجمل بوجود Lil Bit بجانبي.
من أسهل الأشياء التي يمكن فعلها عندما تصبح الحياة صعبة هو الانعزال. البقاء في المنزل. إلغاء الخطط. إقناع نفسك بأن الأمر معقد جدًا. ومع إصابة في الحبل الشوكي، أحيانًا يكون الأمر معقدًا فعلًا. مجرد الخروج من المنزل قد يتطلب تخطيطًا، ومساعدة، ووسيلة نقل مهيأة، وطاقة أكبر بكثير مما يراه أي شخص.
لكنني تعلمت أن عليّ أن أتحرك وأفعل شيئًا على أي حال.
هناك عبارة اشتهرت بفضل Johann Hari في محاضرته على TED: «عكس الإدمان هو التواصل.» وأفكر في هذه الفكرة بما يتجاوز الإدمان أيضًا. نحن بحاجة إلى التواصل. إلى أش�

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I forgot Day 24. In my defense, I was busy having a birthday. 🤣
I went out to dinner, celebrated another trip around the sun, ate well, laughed, had #LilBit by my side and somewhere along the way completely forgot I was supposed to post about living with a spinal cord injury.
And actually, that’s good for me. Because I usually give myself a hard time for not being perfect AND I have hard time being present when life is tough. Enter caregiver/nurse crisis. (As my spiritual guide Rick Hanson used to remind me: right now, it’s like this. 🕉️Shoutout to my Dharma Punx!)
So, what? For 23 days I’ve talked about pain, caregiving, exercise, advocacy, creativity, healing, joy and some of the complicated realities of SCI.
Last night I wasn’t thinking about any of it. I wasn’t trying to educate anyone or raise awareness.
And that’s a gorgeous thing too. Thank you for all the beautiful birthday love. 🤍
Day 25 of 30. ♿️

#SCIAwarenessMonth #DogsOfInstagram #SpinalCordInjury #VanessaOsman

نسيت اليوم الرابع والعشرين. وللدفاع عن نفسي، كنت مشغولة بالاحتفال بعيد ميلادي. 🤣
خرجت لتناول العشاء، واحتفلت برحلة أخرى حول الشمس، وأكلت جيدًا، وضحكت، وكان LilBit بجانبي، وفي مكان ما خلال كل ذلك نسيت تمامًا أنه كان من المفترض أن أنشر عن الحياة مع إصابة في الحبل الشوكي.
وفي الواقع، هذا أمر جيد بالنسبة لي. لأنني عادةً ما أقسو على نفسي عندما لا أكون مثالية، وأجد صعوبة في أن أكون حاضرة في اللحظة عندما تصبح الحياة صعبة. وهنا تدخل أزمة مقدمي الرعاية/التمريض. (وكما كان مرشدي الروحي Rick Hanson يذكّرني دائمًا: في هذه اللحظة، هكذا هي الأمور. 🕉️ تحية إلى جماعتي في Dharma Punx!)
إذًا، ماذا في ذلك؟ على مدار 23 يومًا تحدثت عن الألم، وتقديم الرعاية، والتمارين الرياضية، والمناصرة، والإبداع، والشفاء، والفرح، وبعض الحقائق المعقدة للحياة مع إصابة في الحبل الشوكي.
الليلة الماضية، لم أكن أفكر في أي من ذلك. لم أكن أحاول تثقيف أحد أو نشر الوعي.
وهذا شيء رائع أيضًا. شكرًا لكم على كل هذا الحب الجميل بمناسبة عيد ميلادي. 🤍
اليوم الخامس والعشرون من 30. ♿️

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AGE. Reflection: Happy Birthday bitch, you made it!
#TBT to a little old Hollywood glamour. ✨ 🎬💋

#ThrowbackThursday #BirthdayWeek #OldHollywoodGlam #VanessaOsman

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My body is talking to me all day long.
The last 24 hours have been really hard and last night my legs let me know it! Spasms shook me senselessly…but, I was upset. Too much too figure out, fight off, face up.
But let’s get into solution: nearly 23 years with a spinal cord injury, I’ve learned that sensation isn’t always as simple as feeling or not feeling. My body has developed its own language.
A stuffy nose. Goosebumps. A sudden spasm. A change in my breathing. Feeling unusually hot or cold. A shift in my energy. Sometimes my body is telling me something is wrong long before I consciously understand what it is.
In the early years, I didn’t always recognize the signals. I remember my nose suddenly getting stuffy and running at the same time and thinking, what the hell kind of allergy is this? 😂 I eventually learned that it could be my body warning me that something needed attention.
That’s one of the stranger things about living with SCI. You can lose sensation and simultaneously become incredibly tuned in to your body.
You learn patterns. You notice tiny changes. You learn which signals mean pay attention and which ones mean PAY ATTENTION. It’s a language I never asked to learn. But after all these years, I’m pretty damn fluent.
*If you’re new to SCI, learn about autonomic dysreflexia and find a peer mentor, like me. The education could prevent stroke/death.
Day 23 of 30. ♿️

#SCIAwarenessMonth #SpinalCordInjury #BodyAwareness #PeopleOfDetermination #VanessaOsman

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Isn’t it interesting that after nearly 23 years with a condition you might expect to diminish my body, in some ways I actually feel more?
More feeling inside and outside my body. More intuition. More focus. I listen better. I communicate better. I pay attention. I challenge myself and welcome new experiences like this one with @accessadventureofficial
Why? I don’t know exactly.
Maybe because living in this body requires me to.
I work out regularly. I stand. I practice breathwork and meditation. I eat about 90% organic and grass fed. And don’t even get me started on my morning and nighttime skincare routines. Think MANY steps. 😂
None of this makes me immune to pain, aging or the realities of spinal cord injury. And it certainly doesn’t mean SCI somehow made me healthier.
But it has made me incredibly conscious of how I live in my body and what I put into it, onto it and around it.
I used to think transformation was something you could see.
Now I think some of the biggest transformations are the ones you can feel.
Day 22 of 30. ♿️

#SCIAwarenessMonth #TransformationTuesday #SpinalCordInjury #PeopleOfDetermination #VanessaOsman

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#MondayMotivation is overrated.
You don’t always wake up motivated. Sometimes you’re tired, in pain, annoyed, waiting on a caregiver, or just not feeling it. You do one thing anyway. Motivation often comes after movement, not before it. ⚡️
It took me a long time to get back in front of an easel after my spinal cord injury. Painting looks different now. I paint using my wrist, and most of the time I don’t even finish the piece.
But I did the thing: I got in front of the canvas. I picked up the brush. I made something.
Maybe motivation doesn’t always come first. Sometimes you move toward something you love and motivation catches up with you.
The painting doesn’t have to be finished for that to count.
Neither do I.
Day 21 of 30. ♿️

#SCIAwarenessMonth #AdaptiveArt #SpinalCordInjury #VanessaOsman

MondayMotivation مبالغ فيه.
لا تستيقظ دائمًا وأنت تشعر بالحافز. أحيانًا تكون متعبًا، أو تتألم، أو منزعجًا، أو تنتظر مقدم رعاية، أو ببساطة لا تشعر بالرغبة في فعل أي شيء. ومع ذلك، تفعل شيئًا واحدًا. غالبًا ما يأتي الحافز بعد الحركة، وليس قبلها. ⚡️
استغرق مني الأمر وقتًا طويلًا لأعود للجلوس أمام حامل الرسم بعد إصابتي في الحبل الشوكي. الرسم يبدو مختلفًا الآن. أرسم باستخدام معصمي، وفي معظم الأحيان لا أنهي اللوحة حتى.
لكنني فعلت الشيء: جلست أمام اللوحة. أمسكت بالفرشاة. صنعت شيئًا.
ربما لا يأتي الحافز دائمًا أولًا. أحيانًا تتحرك نحو شيء تحبه، ويلحق بك الحافز.
ليس من الضروري أن تكتمل اللوحة حتى يكون لذلك قيمة.
وأنا أيضًا لست مضطرة لأن أكون مكتملة.
اليوم الحادي والعشرون من 30. ♿️

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Better care starts with understanding. I’ve talked a lot this month about caregiving because good care can directly affect our independence, health and quality of life.
So here’s something worth sharing.
Kessler Foundation created a FREE online course, Understanding Spinal Cord Injury, for caregivers and personal care assistants supporting people with SCI.
It covers practical things caregivers really need to understand, including breathing, temperature regulation, blood pressure, bowel and bladder care, autonomic dysreflexia, skin, pain, transfers, equipment and more.
I was also one of the voice artists who helped narrate the course, which makes this project especially meaningful to me. 🎙️
Whether you’re a professional caregiver, family member, friend or someone new to caring for a person with SCI, education matters. The more the people around us understand our bodies and our needs, the safer and more independent we can be.
And did I mention it’s FREE? 😊
Day 20 of 30. ♿️
Take the free Understanding Spinal Cord Injury course ⁠—> link in bio or type in: bit.ly/understandingSCI

#SCIAwarenessMonth #Caregiving #SpinalCordInjury #PeopleOfDetermination #VanessaOsman

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There are days when pain is louder than everything else.
And then there’s the sun.
I feel it on my skin and somehow my body softens. My breath gets deeper. And sometimes, if I’m lucky, for a few beautiful minutes, nothing hurts.
I’m not fighting my body.
I’m not trying to fix anything.
I’m not thinking about what works, what doesn’t, or what I’ve lost.
I’m just warm.
Still.
Me.
I used to think healing meant getting something back. Maybe sometimes healing is simply getting a little break from the pain.
A few minutes when my body forgets to hurt.
And the sun remembers me.
Day 18 of 30. ♿️

#SCIAwarenessMonth #ChronicPain #Healing #PeopleOfDetermination #VanessaOsman

هناك أيام يكون فيها الألم أعلى صوتًا من كل شيء آخر.
ثم تأتي الشمس.
أشعر بها على بشرتي، وبطريقة ما يرتخي جسدي. يصبح تنفسي أعمق. وأحيانًا، إذا حالفني الحظ، لبضع دقائق جميلة، لا يؤلمني شيء.
لا أحارب جسدي.
لا أحاول إصلاح أي شيء.
لا أفكر فيما يعمل، وما لا يعمل، أو فيما فقدته.
أنا فقط أشعر بالدفء.
بالسكون.
أنا.
كنت أعتقد أن الشفاء يعني استعادة شيء ما. ربما يكون الشفاء أحيانًا مجرد الحصول على استراحة قصيرة من الألم.
بضع دقائق ينسى فيها جسدي كيف يتألم.
وتتذكرني الشمس.
اليوم الثامن عشر من 30. ♿️

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“5% chance she’ll live.”
That’s what they told my family from the hospital in 2003.
A few years ago, I found myself on set with Google, again, shooting a commercial in a multimillion dollar home in Venice. And somehow, I’d been cast as Gen Z alongside three actual twenty somethings. 🤣 (I can’t make this stuff up!)
But here’s the part that stays with me: none of it could have happened if I had given up too soon.
Life, even my faith, can feel like it’s at zero percent right before something begins to shift.
So if you’re having a hard time, hang in there. Have faith, especially when you can’t see a reason to. You don’t know what’s still ahead of you. Better things are yet to come.
Day 17 of 30. ♿️

#SCIAwarenessMonth #TBT #KeepGoing #BetterThingsAreComing #VanessaOsman

«احتمال نجاتها 5٪.»
هذا ما قالوه لعائلتي من المستشفى عام 2003.
قبل بضع سنوات، وجدت نفسي مجددًا في موقع تصوير مع Google، أصوّر إعلانًا تجاريًا في منزل تبلغ قيمته ملايين الدولارات في Venice. وبطريقة ما، تم اختياري لأجسّد شخصية من جيل Z إلى جانب ثلاثة أشخاص حقيقيين في العشرينيات من عمرهم. 🤣 (لا يمكنني اختلاق هذه الأشياء!)
لكن هذا هو الجزء الذي يبقى عالقًا في ذهني: لم يكن أي من ذلك ليحدث لو أنني استسلمت مبكرًا.
الحياة، وحتى إيماني، قد يبدوان وكأنهما عند نسبة صفر بالمئة، قبل أن يبدأ شيء ما بالتغيّر.
لذلك، إذا كنت تمر بوقت عصيب، فاصمد. تحلَّ بالإيمان، خصوصًا عندما لا ترى سببًا لذلك. فأنت لا تعرف ما الذي لا يزال ينتظرك في المستقبل. أشياء أفضل لم تأتِ بعد.
اليوم السابع عشر من 30. ♿️

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Did you know Teddy Pendergrass became a quadriplegic? I absolutely adore his music, and I was stunned when I learned this while watching a documentary about his life.
After a car accident in 1982 left him with a spinal cord injury, Teddy continued recording music, returned to the stage and became an advocate for people living with spinal cord injuries.
There are so many people we know for their music, acting, art, athleticism or accomplishments without ever knowing that spinal cord injury is also part of their story.
And Teddy said it perfectly:
“Disability doesn’t mean inability.”
PS he recorded this post spinal cord injury with a then unknown Whitney Houston!
Day 14 of 30. ♿️

#SCIAwarenessMonth #TeddyPendergrass #SpinalCordInjury #PeopleOfDetermination VanessaOsman

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