Gaelynn Lea is not here to inspire. The musician has genetic disability Osteogenesis Imperfecta aka Brittle Bone Disease. She discovered her love of music in the fourth grade.
“I really wanted to play the cello at the beginning,” Gaelynn shares. The string player was lucky she had a teacher that was willing to help her. Too small to play even the small cellos, they devised a method whereas she plays the violin up and down and held her bow like a base player. The adaptations didn’t hinder her performance but indeed enabled her to create her own unique sound which sounds more like an orchestra than one violin playing. Gaelynn likes to think her music enables listeners to close their eyes and go on a journey.
Since winning NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest in 2016, Gaelynn has travelled the country sharing her music and perspective, but she’s not trying to be an ‘inspiration’.
“That’s coming from a place of pity. Because, secretly you feel like ‘I don’t know how I could do it’”
When asked how she overcame her disability, Gaelynn replies that she won’t because it is a part of who she is. This spurs her to change society’s perception of disabled people. “We have such an ingrained belief that able-bodied living is better than living in a body that is different.”
She feels that prenatal genetic testing and “taking out a preterm baby” infers a lack of value on disabled lives. Gaelynn says the goal of ‘Zero Disability” is impossible and indeed efforts to eradicate disability are wrong. The musician wants people to love their bodies exactly as they are.
“The way your body is, is the way you experience the world.”
For Gaelynn, not having her disability would mean not having the life she has.
Learn more about Gaelynn and watch her music come to life in the video below.
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