Do you celebrate your injury anniversary?
Listen to the content of this page here:
Here I wear my heart on my sleeve and my helmet on my head
This photo was taken on May 23 2018, on my 3-year concussion anniversary. I celebrated with some friends, some pizza, and an ice cream cake that if eaten too fast was a deliciously frozen pun (#brainfreeze!) The cake had a most impressive brain decoration on top.
I was not just celebrating 3 years of survival, 3 years of accepting a new normal, and 3 years of creating my new reality. I was also celebrating a project I had dreamed of and was finally bringing to life.
Storytelling my experiences living with Prolonged Concussion Symptoms
Anniversaries can be hard. They can remind you of the trauma and the hardships. They can be markers in time when you thought you’d be further along in your recovery than you are. They can make you realize just how much your life has changed. In other words, anniversaries can be hard.
On my 3-year concussion anniversary I wanted to mark a point in time when I would actively move forward. I wanted to own my past and share it for a better future. I launched my storytelling blog and podcast called This Hat is a Helmet. An ambitious goal to release one blog post a day, for every day in June — brain injury awareness month.
I failed, LOL.
Thirty posts in one month?!? A little TOO ambitious, amiright?
But even past June, I carried on and the stories I told reached many people. Other survivors were writing in.
“This blog is amazing! You are a very engaging writer who is humorous and doesn’t shy away from the facts!”
“Thanks for sharing your blog posts and for providing them in audio format! Awesome…I loved your description of what it feels like to have PCS.”
“Just listened to post 10: Setback. It was amazing!! I cried, I laughed, I 100% identified, thank you for writing it 🙂 I love listening to your posts when I’m resting, they are so soothing :-)”
“Love your blog!! 3 gave me goosebumps & 4 made me cry … Love your xmas gift analogy. Keep it up, you’re a talented writer & speaker.”
“Grateful for your powerful message…which I’ll use as fuel in my own life here and now. Thank you!”
I may have failed at too lofty of a goal, but it’s clear that I succeeded in finding my voice 🙂
Up until now I kept this blog & podcast pseudo-anonymous out of fear that potential employers or others in my profession would look poorly upon me, or discriminate against me. But now that I’m running my own ship, being my own boss, and doing even more to spread awareness and support those with brain injury, I feel freer than ever to share these heartfelt stories with you ♥️
This Hat is a Helmet on SoundCloud and Blogspot
Each post is accessible to you in both written format & recorded in audio. It’s sometimes hard to know where to begin, so below I picked my top 5 favourite posts to get you started 🙂 Click on the SoundCloud tracks to listen, or view and subscribe to the written material on Blogspot here.
This special project may be a creative outlet to help me move forward, but I hope it also helps you to know that you are not alone. May you find yourself in these stories. May they also help you find your own voice.
Best in brain health from me to you,
My personal top 5 posts
Follow on SoundCloud or subscribe on Blogspot!