This Hat is a Helmet

Listen to the audio for more fun and less screen time, here ! What I’m sharing with you today I didn’t write. Instead I dictated it to my phone. It was a beautiful summer day but my mood wasn’t as bright. I just felt I needed to get out my thoughts and feelings. So I picked up my phone and I started recording. What I recorded is a reflection on time — my time spent in my recovery and how time feels. I have here for you today the content of that recording, raw and unedited. A special edition of This Hat is a Helmet . Enjoy! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I have often heard my friends who are parents say they wish they could slow down time. They wish they could stop it. They feel like their kids are growing up so fast. And they just want to preserve this moment. I remember when I was young, my parents always saying that time went by so fast. It’s the summer right now and I was looking at my agenda earlier. It feels l...

Want less screen time? Listen to the audio version of this post here ! I likely spent more years in university than was necessary for my resulting career in healthcare - three science majors and a senior thesis later, I arrived! My post secondary path could have been more efficient, but I don’t regret it at all. My experiences along the way were after all effective for giving me the unique perspective I have today. Indeed, I still believe all learning opportunities are valuable, even if they cover something I already know. It’s my opinion that there’s always something new to learn, and if not, then there is a chance to learn an old fact in a new way, or make connections in knowledge I hadn’t yet considered. In my eight years of post secondary education (yes, I know, I’m privileged), most of my courses were in the sciences. I took a few language courses as well (because French and Spanish are fun!). But the most unique outlier was the one mandatory business ...

(All my posts have audio so you can LISTEN instead of read. Less screen time :) Find audio for this post on my Soundcloud account here ) A quiet apartment. A dimly lit living room. A jowly dog snoring softly on the couch. A timer ticking down the last minute and the sound of a “click” that set the stage for a simple accident that would change all my future plans. Four years ago I was trying to live life to the fullest, packing as many activities into each moment as humanly possible, while not actually being aware of the present moment itself. I spent that day waking early, walking my best buddy, Bob , meeting a friend, scavenging the city’s largest community garage sale, driving back and forth to pick up and drop off our epic finds, all while thinking of and planning the next day, which was supposed to be driving about one and a half hours out of the city for hiking and rock climbing, with my best and other buddies. There was something about being so busy th...

Want to listen instead? Less screen time! Audio found here . One day last summer, I was stuck downtown with an onslaught of symptoms that pretty much debilitated me. I wasn’t sure I could make it home. It was too far to walk and the public bus was far too noisy and crowded for me that day. Between where I was and my home was my boyfriend’s apartment. We had only been dating about two months at the time. I wasn’t sure if it felt right to seek refuge at his place, but I made the decision, called him up, and proceeded to head to his place. Writing has become a source of comfort for me. I realized this only on that day. As I felt like shit, collapsed on his couch, I asked to use a pen and some paper. Below is what I wrote. I’m sharing this now to go along with the podcast interview series I’m doing on Dating and Relationships with PCS . The “love and hate letter” below really captured how insecure I feel at times in my relationships, due to the limiting nature of this dis...

SPECIAL PODCAST INTERVIEW! Found on my Souncloud HERE ! Dating was something I didn't really do before the concussion. Embarking on it after my injury seemed like an even bigger challenge. Luckily, I had people to talk to about it, including my friend Stephanie. She joins me today to talk about our experience dating post injury. We share our thoughts and stories about dating as an adult, day-to-day connections, acceptance, what made us feel ready to date, how we did dating with PCS and what challenged and supported this whole process. Explanations of the terms "neurotypicals" and "meet cute" included 😀 I hope you enjoy and stay tuned for more! You can subscribe to this blog by clicking the "SUBSCRIBE" button at the top of this page. Cheers, - Krystal You can follow me on Instagram as well: this.hat.is.a.helmet We're not experts in dating nor brain injury! This special episode brings you our stories in d...

SPECIAL PODCAST INTERVIEW! Found on my Souncloud HERE . Have you ever asked someone out on a friend date? This series is about dating and relationships and when we think of those words, we often think of romantic relationships only. But friendships make up an important part of our relationship lives and if we want to be happy and healthy, valuing and respecting friendships in the same way we do romantic ones is likely the way to go. At least, that’s my opinion and that’s why this series is starting here. This brain injury has really made me look at all my relationships in a new light. When I had my most recent injury I was single and it seemed like my friendship status was in transition - some of my friendships were teetering on the fence and new ones were entering the gate. The injury also made me reevaluate my role and how I contributed to my friendships - it made me think about what kind of friend I wanted to be.   Today I talk with one of my friend...

Image attribution: Photo © 2011 J. Ronald Lee, CC Attribution 3.0. modified by cropping and adding brain and heart bubbles This announcement made in audio on Souncloud. Click here ! February. It’s the month of love . Or where I’m from, it’s the month you try to book a vacation to somewhere down south to get away from the -40°. Either way, people look to heat things up this month so I thought a fun series on experiences with dating and relationships with brain troubles was called for. I’m no relationship expert. In fact, I don’t think anyone is. Navigating dating and relationships can feel like navigating IKEA furniture instructions… in the dark. It can be awkward, clumsy, and messy. There are no satisfying instructions. You often need help and no one truly knows what they’re doing. The brain injury adds another layer of complication on top of it all. Like instead of feeling drunk on love, you just feel drunk assembling that bookshelf wondering...