Urban Dictionary describes a blog as…
“A meandering, blatantly uninteresting online diary that gives the author the illusion that people are interested in their stupid, pathetic life. Consists of such riveting entries as “homework sucks” and “I slept until noon today.”
As much as I would have to disagree with the above statement, I did in fact sleep until noon today.
Maybe they are onto something here !
In complete and transparent honesty, the idea of a blog was never my own.
I had multiple people… family, friends and occupational therapists who all recommended that I take my writing to a public forum in which others could learn and share in my experiences.
I have always lived with a greater need to help others but for months I fought the idea for nothing other than the fear that it may be beyond myself.
Initially the writing of my experiences came purely from my victim impact statement, preparing ourselves for court in which we had to summarize the value of two young people’s lives.
A question I will allow you to answer within your own mind.
I was tasked with verbalizing all the feelings, emotion and personal anguish I had experienced, knowing full well I still didn’t quite understand it all myself.
Then it became a source of expression, a way of conditioning myself and bringing life to the feelings that would otherwise be buried in my subconscious within time.
So how did I do it?
I just started.
I wrote an initial list of all of my head injured moments, my defeats and my triumphs and compiled them together in which to expand upon in time.
Having a brother who owned a graphic design company, allowed me a forum in which to turn my aspirations for this blog into something physical and tangible other than just what I pictured in my mind.
I remember the day when I flipped the switch.
I woke up one morning and I literally just changed my perspective.
I got a lift to the closest ATM, withdrew $500 cash deposit, wrote a business case and put it all in a sealed envelope and skated down to my brother’s office as I couldn’t drive at the time.
I remember making it to the front door before realizing that I had forgotten the envelope in all of my excitement, skating back again in embarrassment.
It took 4 days to write my first post.
For someone who hates their circumstances, self-reflection isn’t an easy task.
Although the sense of completion and achievement that came from finishing that post, was something that I couldn’t share enough.
Reading it to every visitor, gaining feedback and growing with time.
The memory issues of reading it to the same person multiple times without them telling me just to show their enthusiasm.
Support.
The one thing that this blog would have been nonexistent without and the one purpose of this blog.
Its creation and its purpose is nothing more but a means of support to others and a window into my life.
Sure there are times when I probably should have closed the blinds, worn more clothes or considered who might have been looking.
But in the words of Kirsten Gillibrand (American Politician you probably have never heard of)
“I find that when you open the door toward openness and transparency, a lot of people will follow you through”.
On a last note I wanted to thank my family for putting up with all these brain injured moments.
My mother spent an hour trying to help me come up with blog names, writing them down on tissue paper and handing them too me while I was busy watching TV.
Having a cold at the time, without thinking I blew my nose on it and added it to the pile.
She still talks about that sometimes…
