“The ability to find both hope in healing, and heart in transformation. The Orange Butterfly seeks positivity in darkness and difficult changes, to emerge from setbacks with grace and beauty in our eyes. A reminder to embrace new life, pathways and challenges with hope.”
Lauren Spear
It doesn’t take very long for an action to change your life. A single moment, a choice, a behaviour, whatever it may be. For me, my present life came to a complete halt as a result of an action during what felt like any normal work day. But for some reason on this occasion, life had other plans for my path.
Brain Injury; two words that hold such a significant amount of fear and uncertainty. Hearing those words for the first time was like a massive kick in the guts; your heart stops. My knowledge was minimal, next to none if I’m being honest with you, and I had no idea what to think, how to act or what to feel. Brain injury is not something that is often spoken about or given time for discussion. I could remember hearing sirens; just a massive rush of loud noises and sirens going on inside my head. A rush I wish to never feel again, yet at the same time, has given me more motivation and life lessons than anything I’ve ever experienced before. In a moment where I may have felt helpless, anxious and heartbroken, I knew I was lucky.
My story is something I want to share with the community, people who share a similar journey to myself, who want to learn or understand more, or are simply just looking for someone to tell them that they’re not alone. I’d love to create a safe space for not only myself to share my experiences and feelings, but to allow a community of people to come together and empower and encourage each other. I want to open up about the things I have learnt along the way, in the hopes that my story may support someone else who may be going through the same journey, feeling the same emotions as I am, and unsure what to do, where to go from here, and what could possibly be in store next.
My goal, is to speak openly and honestly about the effects my Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) has had on my well-being and mental health. One day, I hope to bring comfort to others in the form of a foundation to promote and support awareness of the importance of mental health recovery throughout TBI recovery, and the many ways I have found support along the way.
“If nothing ever changed, there’d be no butterflies.”
Unknown
Useful resources for further support and information:
The Orange Butterfly 