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Writing As Therapy



I have written as a form of therapy since the early days of coming to terms with being physically disabled following spinal surgery in late autumn of 2006. 

I have never written anything since with certainty and I have learned over 20 years that nothing is final with my injury, I struggle with convincing myself that this is what I'm really trying to say. Some occasions there just aren't the words. But, every so often, writing can ease my mind of a few fears and lift the confusion in my head, a little. 

I really enjoy the process of writing. Most of the time it amounts to very little at all being clarified but, once in a while, it can lead to the jackpot prize of some sense of settlement and acceptance.

As long as I have been in a wheelchair, friends and family have insisted my story is a book in the making. I have been attempting to rise to what I see as a challenge and one, with my circumstances, I can get fully behind. Bed rest allows for quiet contemplation and is the ideal platform for some creative writing.

I have attempted to string words together, not by way of just another vanity project but to relay experiences I have encountered, both in mind and body, which may well resonate with those of you who are perhaps new to disability, and maybe, just maybe, make you feel that little bit less alone and more prepared for these occurrences. I live with both a catheter and a stoma and these too throw many a curve ball along the way. I will aim to be honest and as informative and descriptive as my writing abilities allow.

My story is not by any means a blockbuster but there are many interesting anomalies, contradictions and what-ifs I still wrestle with. I am not looking to make excuses nor will I ever likely be completely ok with these anomalies. I suggest I surely would have been by now.

I write realising that I have seen far worse and witnessed some minor miracles which have been inspirational in resetting my own psychological relationship with my injury. I won't contrast and compare. The story and views expressed are mine and mine alone. In the incredibly complex world of neurological disorder, we are dealing in fractions. No two injuries nor subsequent rehabilitation are the same. 

We have only scratched the surface of understanding our musculoskeletal systems. I will always want to understand a little more about my own. 

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