self awareness – My Life In A Chair

Why I LOVE Myself (pt2)

Ify sat laughing in his chair. He is wearing a pink hoodie with blue sleeves and a black hood down behind his neck. Some shelves with figurines, some folders, stationary and a sign for his website "mylifeinachair.com" are visible in the background as well as an open door leading out to a yellow lit corridor.

“But my most significant step forward yet would come from something I once thought would cause me more pain than joy. Thankfully, I was wrong…”

Why I LoveD Myself (pt1)

A young Ify smiling and holding some rice to his mouth with a pair of chopsticks.

“… I now know that what had actually happened was just that I started living my life for myself and not for the imaginary standards I thought I was being judged by.”

It Has Been 15 Years: This Is What I’ve Learned

Ify sits smiling at the camera wearing a navy blue Hawaiian shirt in a Spanish café while on holiday. The top of his full beer mug sits on a table in front of him partially out of frame.

This Friday will mark 15 years since the day my life changed forever. It’s been a while since I wrote specifically for the anniversary of the accident, and this year would have been no different. However, I was filling out a form a couple of weeks ago and had to specify what major surgeries I’veContinue reading “It Has Been 15 Years: This Is What I’ve Learned”

Living With Carers: Making It Work

Young female caregiver in casualwear tying shoelaces of African American man with disability sitting in wheelchair in living room

Yesterday, a friend asked how I go about trying to live a normal life with very little space to myself. They were referring to the fact that I’ve now lived in care for 15 years. By that, I mean I have required physical assistance from another person to carry out one or more daily tasksContinue reading “Living With Carers: Making It Work”

The Grass Isn’t Always Greener

Sometimes I get lost thinking how things could’ve been different, but not in the way you might think.

Yesterday Doesn’t Have to Determine Tomorrow

Yes, spinal-cord injury is hard. But like so many other things in all our lives, it is just one of a myriad of past experiences that I live with in the present and doesn’t have to stop me from flourishing in the future.

Putting Myself First

Putting my well-being first has meant not being able to write, record or post as much content as I’d like… and I’m okay with that 😊

What Social Work Means To Me

Social workers can be many different things to different people. Most people have their ideas on what social workers should be. Well, I can’t speak for anyone else so this is what social workers have been to me.

How To Build Your Resilience

How can we build our resilience? Well, I know how I try to maintain mine. Might work for you too.

A Very Odd Christmas

2020, the year when nothing went as expected. Not even Christmas.