​Words Can Heal

Prior to the day of my car accident, the day that would forever change my life, I was a very socially active thirty something gal.  I loved going out with friends, dancing, sports, movies, and much more.  Suddenly I found myself homebound and my life looked incredibly different.  Those whom I thought were close friends suddenly disappeared from my life when I was unable to go out months after my accident.  Let’s face it; most people don’t want to keep visiting a friend who is laid up indefinitely. 

It's sobering when your life changes in an instant.  Wanting to escape pain became a daily wish for me after becoming incapacitated.  I got tired of watching TV. Sure at first, if you ignore the pain for a moment, the thought of a few weeks of marathon TV watching sounded good. But soon I realized it would be much longer than a "short vacation" to heal.

Growing up I loved books. I loved going into libraries or book stores. I could spend hours searching for the perfect title. But you see I had a secret that no one knew about. Reading was an incredible struggle for me. 

While I knew how to read it was extremely difficult.  As a child I remember sitting next to other kids in school and looking at the pages of the book and just staring.  I wasn’t able to read the words so I would watch the other students and when they flipped the page that is when I would too.

But despite my difficulty with reading, I truly loved books.  I loved the stories and learning and I bought books often, but then they would sit on a shelf and collect dust.  It wasn’t until my final year of college that a professor noticed the difficulty I was having in school.  When he did I was tested and learned about the numerous language arts deficits that I had and my struggles with dyslexia were brought to light.  There was incredible validation upon this news and I was finally given the help I needed to succeed.  

​It wasn’t until after my devastating traumatic brain injury in 2011, where I was left with various symptoms including cognitive slowing, memory issues, and confusion, among others, that my neurologist suggested that I start reading whenever I found the time to help aide in my recovery.

"Some Light Reading" by Katie Huon - I bought myself this beautiful water color to celebrate my new found love of reading; as I was always one to watch Beauty and the Beast for the library rather than the prince! 

​Once some time had passed after my accident, I started looking into getting an E-reader, because I knew it would help me with little things like changing the font size according to my visual issues or headache level that day.  I also loved the fact that I could look up a word I didn't know without leaving the page.  Before I would get distracted and then frustrated because I had to stop reading and go to a dictionary to do this.  So, I got myself a Kindle.  Once that sucker was in my hot little hands, my literary life suddenly started improving!

I had always struggled with reading in school, but once I was able to change the background color on my Kindle, I was soon able to read almost non-stop, without my dyslexia being an issue.  I then also noticed that my vocabulary was getting stronger and reading comprehension which I had always struggled with improving as well! 

For the first time in my life I was reading and truly enjoying it!    Before long, I had transitioned from reading children’s books at the library to finishing several adult level books on my Kindle in a single month!  I started to feel smarter and my self-esteem was rising along with my completed book count. 

The stories I’ve enjoyed the most have been Contemporary Fiction and Romance novels.  The characters in these stories have kept me company over these many years of healing and have remained my constant companions.   

Reading has not only become a way to distract myself from physical pain, but it has also become a way for me to heal my mind and my soul.  The stories I have read have provided me with a daily escape from the house that I am often unable to leave, while their characters have given me a feeling of friendship when I otherwise feel isolated.

It's amazing what the written word can do to inspire us, to change our outlook on life, to challenge our personal views on topics, to convey emotions to a loved one, and so much more.  I will be forever grateful to the authors that I have fallen for over the past several years.  They’ve helped me reclaim my body and brain and better myself on a daily basis.

While reading has become a place of solace for me and a true passion, so too has the advocacy work I do for traumatic brain injury and migraine disease.  Whether you are someone directly affected by these conditions or not; I urge you to check out the information on this website. 
Many people suffer from headache disease in silence and you never know when you may be able to lend a hand by sharing valuable information.  Likewise, I hope that by recounting my experiences, I might encourage you or your loved one on your own journey of personal healing.