‘It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. What is essential is invisible to the eye’, the little prince repeated so that he would be sure to remember.’
Antoine de Saint-Exupery, expressing ALEX KARYDIS’ feelings, Sydney NSW Australia 2000
‘Being Gay and disabled makes for an interesting, challenging life. I‘ve planted the 9 trees in my garden – including the one on the footpath. I used to cycle to Paddington market with my bike trailer and buy saplings to plant. They are huge now. I’ve always wondered: How did the Scribbly Gum bug find the tree I planted? If it hadn’t found the tree, it wouldn’t be a Scribbly Gum. And how did muscular dystrophy find me? My sort of muscular dystrophy (MMD) affects 1 in 7,400 people worldwide. Is this synchronicity? Muscular dystrophy has made me change the way I physically do some things, as well as my appearance. In some instances, it is fatal, because of the way it can affect the heart muscles, but my level of fitness prevented that possibility. All that bicycle riding paid off. I don’t believe in labelling people’s sexuality. Some people say that our normal state is bisexuality and they point to the animal kingdom. I tend to agree. Sexuality is a fluid state of being, and I wouldn’t be any other way to what I am today.’
Alex Karydis, Sydney NSW Australia 2000