Same as Always

Through Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall — I just love nature.

I can’t get out there alone anymore. So I wait for an invitation, or I work up the nerve to ask. I don’t like asking. But life is what it is.

AnI have a mild brain injury teaches you to ask. Not small asks. Necessary ones. Asking for help with things you used to do without thinking. Asking because you no longer understand. Asking because it’s the only way forward.

I talk about brain injury because it’s my life. My art is my life. I can’t untangle them.

i do everything we can to raise money to help others. But the truth is, most people look away. I am not a big organization. No boardroom. No headquarters. It’s just me . Sometimes I am lucky enough to get a volunteer.

People give to animals in a heartbeat. Brain injury? They go quiet. Until it happens to you, you can’t know how it changes everything — your habits, your relationships, the basic tasks that make up a day.

If you have a healthy brain, you are lucky. Sometimes I still cry. I can’t help it.

I had a life built on more than things. I had thoughts I could shape, expand, turn into work. I know others with brain injuries who still can work

With hemiplegic/complex migraines on top of mine, I can’t right now. I pray every day that the migraines will end. The pain has leveled but I do not know when it will come again. I have learned to take care of myself very well.

No matter what I face, I thank God when I wake up. I’m grateful for another season. For nature, even through a window. For art I see all around the colors the dreams the actions.; maybe you know what I mean if so, God Bless

This is my life. And I’m still living it.