Welcome to my blog. I post on this, roughly once a week (it does vary). I sustained a 'Traumatic Acquired Brain Injury', and a six month coma from a 'road traffic accident' whilst cycling, in October 2006. I spent the following 4 years (22-26yrs old), in a combination of hospitals and rehabilitation homes. Now, I have been living independently in Surbiton, England since October 2010. This blog begun life in December 2010, as i realised that there are many people worldwide that i want to share experiences with. I know that, as a wheelchair user, I am obviously not as mobile as i wish, so, use the internet to connect to you. I enjoy letting my thoughts represent through type. I type honestly. As numerous readers, as well as email recipients, will understand, I find typing to be very therapeutic. Thank you :)
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Friday 2 November 2018

Stay on track

  • Stay on track - Accept your fate
  • Jean-Paul Sartre - It's up to you
  • C’est la vie - 'that is wasted on me'



...............................................

    • The year is 2018, I turned 34 in August. EEEK! I have been living, brain injured for over a third of my life! I am happy with my life up to 22, from then I have been forced to live with a traumatic injury. 
    • I am still happy with myself. Family and friends have proved so valuable, and i shall forever feel incredibly grateful.
    • Only I know exactly what I have been through. 
    • Only I know exactly how I have tackled each problem. 
    • Only I know.

    It is impossible to predict the future accurately. Eleven years ago, whilst in hospital, no-one (including me) would have predicted that I would stand politically, in a local election. Twelve years (and 19 days) ago, no-one would have predicted my injury. Accidents happen.


    Back in the day, I couldn’t even comprehend some of the things I can do now, therefore my self-belief remains! I remember living in hospital and both rehabilitation homes, dreaming of stages in my future life. Some exist now, some are still dreams. It is important that I recognise this! 
    Stay on track, follow fate’s path. 
    Accept this concept, or you will fall, fail and suffer miserably.

    • I am pleased with myself, for holding my beliefs strong, and standing for what I believe in. 
    • Essentially, I am not ‘broken’, by the lack of ultimate success in this year’s Local Election. 
    • ‘Lib-Dems’ won my ward with their leader receiving about 1700 votes, I think! I received a lot less, 160 (second, out three Greens)! This contrast may seem so large, almost comical, but I do draw immense positives from the event. A large portion of votes were in between, and it seemed that many voted by ‘Political Party’. 
    • I understand and accept that our young and progressive Green Party, has a smaller following, compared to the old ‘big three’ parties. Three have successfully dominated British politics for much of the previous century (or more).
    • My strong, keen belief remains. I know that the incredibly dangerous situation that the world finds itself in, is due to the large majority of ‘closed-ears’ of older politicians. People are slowly becoming more aware of the future, and progressive politics is the way forward.


    Thom Yorke - ‘Unmade’


    • Human variety is incredibly large, but not endless. I know that I am extremely lucky, but I will forever feel different. Different, because I know that there are plenty of parts of ‘human life’ in which I can no longer participate, whilst experiencing equally as fully-able, ‘regular’ human-beings. 
    • I have progressed so far, but I will always feel this gap between myself and everyone else. We are all ‘free’, but humans are required to live as ‘humanity’ expects. ‘Free’, but to what extent? Are we tricking ourselves?
    • We exist, we are ‘free’, but we have too much choice. We can never know the result of every choice, we can only hope to find our best possible result. 
    • Human existence precedes our essence. We exist, therefore we are free to develop our essence, but we are limited by choices available. 
    • One can conceptually design a perfect choice, but perfection cannot exist in reality. An ‘essence’ will never be perfected.

    I have been reading  lot of Jean-Paul Sartre recently, deep but allowing me to draw my own conclusions, feeding from his writing.
    Freedom is not a punishment, however it can be the ultimate goal, that once reached, may destroy itself.
    "man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world – and defines himself afterwards"

     Above, Sartre begins to explain his theory of 'existence' preceding 'essence', through his description of an artisan's paper-knife. Below, he is describing the nature (essence) of the paper-knife, before explaining that it 'serves a definite purpose' (it's essences are because of it's existence as a paper knife). However, he does continue to offer a contradiction, when offering a possible view from a 'technical standpoint', but responds by arguing that things regularly precede others - 'we can say production precedes existence.'



    ‘Man is condemned to be free.’
    Existentialism & Humanism
    ‘…because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. 
    It is up to you to give [life] a meaning.”

    The final words of the quote above, are key. It is up to every individual to give life a meaning. Every life has a meaning, each different. They are not hard to find, you just have to follow your unique path of fate.

    “Freedom is what we do with what is done to us.” 
    ― Jean-Paul Sartre










    ‘That is wasted on me’…
    I tried sharing my screening of my ‘Big Train DVD’, as I attempted to cheer-up a good friend. 
    I was in fits of hysterics, as it has been ages since I watched this old comedy. I doubt anyone finds this as comical as me, ah well. 
    C’est la vie


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