Writing By Laura

Happy Thanksgiving (in the United States). It’s a time where we are to reflect on the year or our lives and be thankful. In this blog post I reflect on the years post-TBI and recount how I am thankful for all the personal growth I have achieved.

I realize how far I’ve come since the severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and coma I experienced as the result of a car accident 5 years ago the more I write about my experience in this blog and in my memoir. With reflection comes thankfully… a feeling of thankfulness. And since I’m not sitting at a dinner table with you telling you what I’m thankful for before we eat (an American Thanksgiving Tradition), I thought I would write about feeling thankful for personal growth.

I have started to go to physical therapy again and it has inspired me to be really dedicated with my workouts. So I developed a little craft project to use as motivation. I am calling it a “Motivational Paper Chain” to inspire me to exercise daily. Each ring has a drawing of Selby or a motivational saying. At Day 15 I have a reward of a $15 Starbucks gift card. At Day 30 I have a $30 Sephora gift card. I took inspiration from the Christmas countdown paper chains we used to make as kids. I think this is a good idea and hopefully it works!

This little project I did is indicative of my progress. A while ago thinking of something like this wouldn’t have been possible. And then I would think of the project but not remember I had thought of it enough to follow through with it. And then I remember the idea enough to start the project but would lose steam in the middle and not complete it and be frustrated. Now I get tired and overwhelmed in the middle of a project but I still manage to complete it. I suppose the next step will be to complete a project without any feelings of being overwhelmed (that may not be possible with my TBI but maybe the overwhelmed feelings will get less intense). When I told my psychologist about this project he smiled and said it sounded “very Laura-like.” And to me that’s definitely progress… I am establishing personality patterns that can be described as “me” characteristics. Even though I certainly feel like I have much improvement and progress to go, I am thankful for where I am now in my personal progress.

Monthly Feature of The Week: Writing Update: I’m published!

Last blog I mentioned that I have an essay that was included in a book that was just published. The book is “But You Don’t Look Sick: The Real-Life Adventures of Fibro Bitches, Lupus Warriors, And Other Superheroes Battling Invisible Illness.” You can purchase it on Amazon. It was published by Indie Blu(e) Publishing. My essay is called “Still Invisible” and it’s about how having suffered from chronic daily migraines and Fibromyalgia, I was mildly relieved to “look sick” immediately following my accident.

This minor writing success has given me a little pep in my writing step. I’m also continuing to participate in a weekly “write-in” on Zoom where we just sit and write. It’s an hour every week where I know for sure I will get some uninterrupted writing time. And although I haven’t really gotten a chance to know the others in the group, there is this wonderful sense of camaraderie (especially when we were Zoom bombed last week by some bored teen boys, see my Daily Doodle below, and we were all outraged together).

A Thanksgiving Silly Graphic

Daily Doodle Projects

There are still a few weeks in October and November that I need to catch up. However, I am not getting any further behind and am doing doodles daily again. It feels good to be back doing my doodles on the daily!

A Selby Sweetie Conclusion