When I meet new people I most of the time need to explain the concept “diabetes”. After introducing myself. By explaining this over and over again I learned one thing, Diabetes is part of my personality. My illness became an identity. And part of my identity.

As I was enjoying the cosy snowfall I came across a TED talk titled “How does an illness become an identity?”. An expert’s point of view. I clicked the link and listened carefully for the following 20 minutes.

What followed was interesting but not surprising. The speaker, Andrew Solomon, stated that illnesses form one’s personality. Homosexuality long regarded as a disease formed Solomon’s identity. It made him reflect on various life choice which are natural for the straight community. Such as the choice to have children.

Diabetes and homosexuality may unite in the fact that they form one’s personality but they are different too. The stigma’s concerning homosexuality and diabetes vary. Strongly. Comparing diabetes and homosexuality wouldn’t be fair. Then again they both form one’s personality. They reinforce the discovery of one’s being. And maybe the acceptance of tolerance is proportional to one’s self understanding.

By volunteering I see a lot of faces challenged by diabetes. However the will, and drive, to improve global health is what unites all of us to invest time and energy in projects. All volunteers are different yet that’s what makes us strong as the Diabetes Online Community. Often abbreviated DOC.

Diversity makes us stronger.
Diversity creates value.
Diversity unites, as Solomon states.

So maybe the key here is to look for different profiles rather than uniformal profiles when composing teams.