DoubleVision Podcast (by DoubleVision Blog)
Ep. 22: Is Comparison Stealing Your Joy (or Jenelle)? ...And Who IS The Evil Twin???
Joy and Jenelle explore how comparison shapes identity, self-worth, and belonging, especially through the lens of growing up as twins and living with vision loss. They move from childhood memories and a Health Chicago billboard campaign into a broader conversation about how comparison can wound, motivate, or reveal what we value in this episode, Joy and Jenelle talk openly about the ways comparison shows up in families, disability communities, work, creativity, and everyday life. They also reflect on how curiosity, timing, and values can turn comparison into something more useful than self-criticism. Key Topics Joy and Jenelle revisit their brief childhood modeling career for Health Chicago, including the “they like the same boys, they like the same clothes, they like the same food, but they need different doctors” ad. Why twins are so often compared, and how people tend to force them into binaries like “the funny one,” “the smart one,” or “the pretty one.” The familiar phrase “comparison is the thief of joy,” and whether comparison is always harmful or can sometimes be neutral or even helpful. How comparison can point toward values, like humor, writing, creativity, stability, or stamina, instead of just triggering shame. Why scarcity thinking often appears in disability communities, especially when people see others succeeding and assume there is not enough possibility to go around. The “flower” metaphor: tulips, hibiscus, and sunflowers each bloom in their own way and timing, which mirrors how people develop differently. The pressure toward exceptionalism in disability culture, including the feeling that blind people have to be “more than” everyone else just to be valued. How comparison can become a tool for growth when it is paired with pausing, naming the real desire underneath, and asking what is actually being admired. Practical examples from home decorating and creative work, where admiration turned into comparison until values were clarified. Joy’s meeting with Marianne Williamson, who said that no person is more or less important than another, a moment Joy connects to belonging and self-worth.
