My holiday of a lifetime took a drastic-u-turn, some freakish neurological event took place. The symptoms started as I got home, and how it played out, I began losing strength then movement in my limbs. Gone were my studies and career aspirations, all of a sudden I face-planted into the hospital system.
Tests galore, specialists galore, but I never did end up with a diagnosis. Instead, as my physical decline continued, and as I began relying on things like mobility aids and ventilators, I didn’t really have anywhere to live. My needs were too high. So, I ended-up living in a few different care facilities.
As the years began to pass, despite my continued search for answers and a cure, I settled into this weird institutional life. It sucked. I kinda lost myself. So, to re-discover who I was and to test my capabilities, I started a bucket list which led to some amazing adventures. But the most notable life development, I started writing a blog.
I was always trying to share my journey, it was my way of helping people to understand the complexity in my life.
To help me to understand the complexities, I started studying life coaching. This was awesome, and it re-ignited a fire in my heart to return to my uni studies again. Only disaster struck, another respiratory event, and this one resulted in a second tracheostomy.
After a long recovery, quite amazingly, I did manage to get back to on-campus studies. Bingo. My life purpose of becoming a biographical writer and adversity advocate unravelled.
Next, after sixteen years of institutional living, I was able to move into my own apartment with my own staff team. Then I started a business.
For years now I’ve had this line in my head, “a voice for those who are suffering.” Now, admittedly, this line does relate directly to my own personal experience, however, to go deeper, what this made me realise is that writing is a voice in and of itself. And for those who can talk, it’s very much a second voice.
But there’s something special about writing, it’s like this textual voice has a life all of its own. It can be funny or informative, direct or obscure, but what I find especially cool is that words have this rather strange in-built longevity to them. And nah, this isn’t about re-reading a social media post a few days later, this is more like publish a book and one day your great, great granddaughter might be reading it.
Writing has a truly unique and diverse spectrum of benefits.
For example, one way I use writing is as a healing tool. Then, another is to straight-up document my journey, then another is to let people know how I’m feeling. A creative outlet, a tool to communicate with others; no wonder I often find myself saying that writing is life.
What does amaze me about this special writer’s voice thing though, I believe that many, many people are underutilising this simple gift. Too many people are focused on consumption, maybe even on crafting fleeting fast-fashion type content, not a hearty meal. And honestly, this is what a short time writing every now and then practice can create – additional substance and fulfilment. That second voice.
Which, this is where The Quadriplegic Writer comes into it, we want you to find and harness your unique writer’s voice. Be direct obscure. We all have something important to say. Yep, tell your story with pride and passion; words have power.
So, whether it be through our online courses (coming soon), or interacting within our online support group (coming soon), or learning as you watch my personal writing journey unfold on social media; what we hope is that you learn some tools and experiment with them bravely. It’s not even important for you to share your ramblings publicly, instead, what is important is that you find your own unique style and prose. This is what will give you the greatest satisfaction, plus I’m certain that this is what your great, great granddaughter will want to hear.
Your essence captured on the page, it truly is possible.
So, storytelling secrets, journaling, persuasive writing, even exploring the art of copywriting; we aim to please. But more importantly, we aim to be useful. For this gift that gives us so much pleasure and meaning, in sharing this and the relevant skill-sets, to help grow your second voice, this is where amazing-ness and smileyface-ness reside. Write on, right on.
Having such a unique perspective on the world, what I’m doing through this advice column, I’m endeavouring to apply this perspective to some of your everyday problems and not so common conundrums. Honestly, with my rather chaotic life experience thus far (which through it, I have learnt a lot), and I really want to be to pass this knowledge forth and to help people.
So, much like any traditional advice column format, you (or anyone for that matter) can write in with a question and I will do my absolute best to answer it with smarts, empathy, and to offer up some practical workable advice.
I really do have this bizarre lens through which I see the world. It’s this lens that somehow weirdly combines ambition with extreme suffering and medical complexity, then making this all work at all costs to achieve the things that are important to me.
I’m resilient and stubborn, but also incredibly creative. I get stuff done.
This is what I want for you too – well, maybe not so much the stubborn part.
Anyway, hopefully as I answer your questions and apply some of my own personal approaches to your dilemmas, the hope is that my responses can inspire action and provide various tools to do so. Which, I know I’m not perfect (and I do sometimes get things wrong), only having now faced and overcome so many diverse challenges in life, I do believe that my voice and opinions are valid. And like I mentioned earlier, extremely unique.
Still, with my advice, you can take it or leave it – your path of personal self-discovery, self-education and self-actualisation is much more important than me being right. Dance your dance, which with any luck, maybe my advice will be like a few strums on a guitar. Who knows?
But it might be worth a punt?
