Fandango’s One-Word Challenge 23.01.2026

Exclude

Exclude.
Let the word sink in.

To me, exclude is not abstract.
It has fingerprints.
It has a history.

I learned it early—
moving country at five,
learning that being different
is often treated as inconvenient.
Seeing things others didn’t see.
Receiving warnings, messages, knowing—
and learning quickly
what must be hidden to belong.

Exclude grows quieter with age.
Less obvious.
More polite.

Now it wears practical clothes.
Accessibility in theory.
Compassion on paper.

Now In 2026,
my husband is bedridden after an accident in 2023,
and the world still isn’t built
for bodies that move differently.

Try going to the cinema.
Wheelchair spaces?
Yes—right at the front.
Neck bent back.
Pain disguised as accommodation.

Try parking.
A handicap card exists for a reason—
yet people shrug, ignore, occupy.
As if need were optional.
As if empathy were negotiable.

Exclude is not always cruelty.
Sometimes it’s indifference
repeated often enough
to feel intentional.

This is a rant, yes.
But it is also a witness statement.

Because exclusion doesn’t just happen—
it is allowed.

And naming it
is the first refusal
to accept it as normal.

#FOWC

💫Maggie

The Afterlove Voice 💫