YOU GOOD w/Damian Washington

Damian Washington knows there’s nothing funny about multiple sclerosis — and that’s exactly why he brings the jokes. With a sharp mind, a quick wit, and a heart rooted in advocacy, he uses humor to disarm the fear and deliver the truth. Because when MS gets serious, Damian gets real — and in doing so, gives others the permission to be real too.

ALLIÉ: Thank you so much, Damian Washington, for joining me here on AWARENOW to share this space and to share your story. Thank you so much.

DAMIAN: I can't even speak because that’s an overwhelmingly joyous feeling—your perspective, your articulation of gratitude for me just showing up in the space that I am grateful you make—ooh, it gave me pause. I was just feeling that emotion. I usually know what to say all the time, every time, so when I don’t, that means I’m feeling. I just need a moment to collect something to say. So as I’m listening to your words... it was impactful. Thank you.
Multiple sclerosis is a terrible way to meet wonderful people.

I was speaking with someone—a friend of a friend who’s newly diagnosed—just yesterday. There are one, two, three people that I’m speaking with right now, specifically and more recently, who are patients… And I know what my ​purpose is. The meat grinder of a life that helps me give purpose to others—for others—for their own specific meat grinder... it's a wonderful feel.

ALLIÉ: It really is—when you can find and step into that purpose. Let’s go back to the beginning, though, because what I have not heard from you about you—because all of us have one, right? We have a diagnosis story. Like, what’s the D-Day story? Anyone with MS has that day when they heard those words. Damian, can we start there? And then we’ll go on. But please share the details of that day.

DAMIAN: That’s a very good question. I’m just going through all the layers of the thing because it took me four doctors and some time to sort this thing out.

DAMIAN: My wife and I—been together for almost 25 years in a couple of weeks—somewhere along the way, she’s like, “Yo, something’s wrong with you, man. You don’t hold me the same way when we walk down the street. You’re off.” And that’s legit. She’s got insight. She’s been here. So she ain’t saying this lightly.

Then it’s concerning. Like, I’m tripping. I can’t really see things from afar—and I wear glasses, right? My nerd goggles are right here. I go to the optometrist to get a new prescription. I can’t specifically recall what was off with the exam, but I wasn’t seeing things properly. Yet my eyes were fine. And the optometrist was like, “Your eyes are fine. But you can’t see like you’re supposed to. A person with fine eyes should see better than this. You need to get an MRI.” And the MRI was like—this guy? Healthy this, healthy that, blah blah blah? Nah, bro, he totally has multiple sclerosis. He needs to go find a neurologist and get that sorted out.

And it took me a few tries to get my team going and figure it all out. Then, off into the sunset. But four different kinds of doctors, man. There was the foot doctor—for the stepping. My regular GP—for the fatigue. And they were all great doctors—shout out to them. Respect and peace and love and joy. But I went through, “Oh, something’s wrong with you? Go to that person.” “Oh, they don’t know? Go to the other person.” “Oh, they don’t know? Go to that person.” “Oh, they don’t know? Go to the other person, bro.”

All the people who were supposed to know... didn’t know. And then they put me in the machine that was like, “Yeah, something’s wrong with you. But we’re gonna figure it out.” And then they were like, “Yo, bro. Get a neurologist—because you got MS.”

ALLIÉ: But it started from your vision—and I hear you, because that’s where mine started as well. It was optic neuritis. I couldn’t see out of my right eye, but my eye was fine.

DAMIAN: That’s the thing. You tell me my eyes are fine, and I believe you. However, I cannot see.

ALLIÉ: So that’s where it began. I see you. I feel you.

When you get a diagnosis, there’s all kinds of medicine. But I want to talk right now about a particular kind of medicine. There are many medicines out there for MS, but laughter—most would agree—is medicine. And you, prescribe it on the daily. You dish it out and medicate us properly with laughter and with your channel. But I want to look behind the curtain here. Was there ever a moment, Damian, when humor felt a bit out of reach and you had to find your way back to it? You seem to be such a master at using humor to navigate this space so brilliantly, but was there a time when you couldn’t find it funny?

DAMIAN: Do you know why there are no jokes about multiple sclerosis? Because that sh*t ain’t funny.

There are many times that I cannot find many things funny—things that I know to be as close to me as my own veins, skin, and thoughts. I was already weird before I got to this diagnosis point. Like, in all the things that make me me—it’s there. Jokes are around because they’re funny, but I’m funny, period.

I know how to structure jokes and make them. And because I know scripts, I know how to get information out and be like, “Alright, this is too wordy here, structure that differently, also add some levity here…” But there’s no humor when you have no wind—and you started a 10-minute walk, maybe 15, and you wanted to walk for the full half hour… and now you should probably turn back around and go home and sit on your couch… That’s not funny, ma’am. That, in and of itself, is not funny. However, the things that may or may not happen to you around that… could be funny.

But I think humor just comes out because I’m funny. And the times I’m not—I’m not much of anything but a giant ball of “no go.” Like, you got a car full of gas, and it goes. This car? Don’t got no gas. No go. And plus—I cry a lot. Because I am an emotional person. And when I say things that are resonant and true, about something vulnerable that’s sort of always there…

ALLIÉ: Yeah. We’re so samezies. I cry a lot too. But I love how you just pointed out the fact that you know you’re just funny. So, MS is part of you… well, then there’s going to be something funny about all of you and all these different sides of you. It’s just an integrated part. That makes sense.

Let’s talk more about MS because—as you and I both know—it can crash the party at the worst possible time. I’d love for you to share a story, perhaps… Is there a story you have when the timing was so ridiculous that all you could do was just shake your head, like yeah, no funny here?

DAMIAN: Well, okay, so funny—specifically—I don’t look for funny. Like, the true, real funny is already there, and I just sort of uncover it. I’m really just trying to build the scenarios in my brain. Like, am I up telling jokes at a show? Am I walking to get some fruit from the store and something goes left, and then some jokey-joke like, Oh, okay. You know what I’m saying? But you see how my brain can’t even separate it? I can’t not be funny. And it’s strange for me to try to be funny—because when it’s necessary, I just go up, connect with somebody, and speak. And it will be funny.

ALLIÉ: Right. Because that’s your lane. I love that—for you, the funny isn’t something you force. It’s something you allow. It’s an authentic expression of you. And should you be someone who has MS, well then that’s the lens you’re going to be looking through, peering through. And I love how it’s all just integrated.

DAMIAN: It’s only funny because it’s true.

ALLIÉ: Funny because it’s true…. I gotta just sit with that for a minute. That’s a big thought.

DAMIAN: Yes it is. That’s what I’m saying… It’s only funny because it’s true. And that’s the nugget. That’s the heart. That’s the core of humor. That’s why laughter is healing—because it gives insight into a truth. You can’t touch it, but you feel it. You can’t look at it, but you see it. That’s what the laughter is. Only so many animals on Earth laugh—and we’re one of them. And that’s why there’s healing in it.

The things that I’m doing, bro? They ain’t funny. They ain’t funny at all. But because—like you say—that’s what I am, that’s what I do… and I’m just dealing with this thing. So this thing is also gonna have some shades of humor on it because it’s got this nerd on it.

ALLIÉ: Well, like you said—it’s there. It (the humor) is already there. You’re just the one presenting it. And you have that gift—to be able to unearth that side of it. What I love about what you do, and how you do it, is that it’s so relatable. The way you use humor to help people—as you would say—heal together. And part of the healing process isn’t necessarily a cure. It’s dealing with it. Dealing with the symptoms. Dealing with the life. Dealing with the no spoons. And if you can use humor to do that—then it truly is a medicine, I would say.

DAMIAN: That’s what I’m saying. I’m giving out prescriptions, baby. Make sure you like and subscribe. Come on, son.

ALLIÉ: So I want to talk more about this digital stage that you’ve built for the MS community—where people come for lifts and stay for truth. What keeps you coming back to the camera? What keeps you creating and doing this work? Because like you say, and like I know—with MS, spoons are important. (For those unfamiliar with ‘The Spoon Theory’, when I say ‘spoons’, I mean energy.) So, on the days when you’re completely out of spoons, what is it that keeps you wanting to do this?

DAMIAN: You… I am looking right in that camera.

ALLIÉ: I know.

DAMIAN: I know you know. I’m speaking more about it because—it’s what it is.

I don’t know you, Allié. I’ve never met you. I don’t know your story, which I’m sure is a story that I’d be like, mm-hmm… and then what happened? But I just know that regardless of what I do, somebody is on the other side of that lens—or on that phone, on the scroll—somebody is there. And I am looking right at them. And I’m talking to them. Because I love them. And specifically in the patient space, your understanding of love evolves. When you have such a medical catalyst, your idea of love evolves. And what keeps me showing up… is you.
I don’t know who “you” is—but if this makes sense to you, if this applies to you, if this is something that makes you go, oh yeah, ha ha ha… that’s funny because it’s true—yeah. That’s what keeps me showing up. You.

ALLIÉ: Thank you.

​DAMIAN: Thank you.

ALLIÉ: Don’t you make me cry. You’re making me have all the feels. I’m laughing. I’m crying.

DAMIAN: I’m crying right now. I have all of the feels.

ALLIÉ: Thank you for showing up like you do. It’s helpful.

So—you’ve worked with big names and big crowds. I want to look at the other side of that. What is one quiet message from someone in the MS community that has stuck with you?Because we all have these connections, right? And once you get into the MS club—it’s quite a club, quite a community. So what’s something quiet that someone has said… that’s stuck?

DAMIAN: Whenever somebody says something legitimate, real, and true—that’s what gets me. Authenticity is the highest vibe there is. Love is the highest vibe—but authenticity is actually higher than that.

So, you see—I don’t really do much other than show up on time and be authentic. Just show up, be relaxed and able to be authentically me. Anyone who is being authentic and sharing a message—it hits home to whomever that message is meant to resonate with.

ALLIÉ: Yeah. Damian, I did have one more question that I wanted to put in front of you… If you could go back in time and share with your newly diagnosed self a single one-liner, what would it be?

DAMIAN: Yeah… “You good, fam.”

That is an acknowledgment of the weight of the diagnosis and all the parts therein—but also a nod to my resiliency and my way of being bigger than the challenges I’ve had… like, forever. Being able to come out on the other side of, Oh, you don’t have this—and how’s that gonna work out? And then, Oh… now there’s this—that also fulfills all of that and even more.

So again, “You good.”
That hood sentiment—from Harlem and the Bronx—is a nice salve to be part of the healing… of whatever’s not good. And helping you rise to the vibration of, regardless of whatever it is, you good. Embody that. What does that mean? How does that feel?

And yeah, I’m not good. Oh no—you’re not great. So… where is good?
I know you’re not good because of this, and that—and you can’t see anything, and your balance is off, and when was the last time you pooped, and wait—I gotta pee, not now but right now—like, all of the things… You good. Even if not in this one right-now instant of a moment—overall, even if you have the same moment at another time—you will experience another vibration of it. And maybe that one will be a little less heavy than this currently is, right now.

You give grace to all of that. You honor all of that. And in that expression… you give space for that. You give room for that to expand… a home for your thought and heart to embody within.

ALLIÉ: You good… It’s wild how that big thought became a big thing in the form of “You good.” I kind of feel like that message should be my new ink. It would be a good reminder on my arm.

DAMIAN: Right? Because it’s so simple. It can resonate in so many different ways—because your ‘you good’ is not mine. But it’s the same notion. And because each and every one of us is different, what that means—and how we show up for that, on behalf of that—will be different. And that’s the best part of it all. Because again—it’s authenticity.

ALLIÉ: Well, and what you just said too… is grace. Right?

DAMIAN: Right. Grace to know that there’s work on the other side of this—and you can take care of that, too. You good handling that as well.

I believe in you.
I love you.
I’m here with you.
I believe in you.
I love you.

That’s what that means to me.

ALLIÉ: Thank you so much, Damian—for sharing this space, for sharing these words, these stories. Thank you for helping all of us become a bit more aware now. Thank you so much.

DAMIAN: I appreciate you, Allié. Thank you for having me in this space.

You can always make money, but you can’t make time. The time that you spend with people is the most precious resource you have. Thank you for spending some time with me—and thinking that it would be valuable to the folks who spend time with you.

ALLIÉ: Incredibly valuable… Thank you so much. ∎

Find & Follow Damian on Instagram:
@damianwashington
Tune in and subscribe to Damian’s YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@NoStressMS