Back to Blogging – Catching Up

Welcome back! I hope you’ve had a great start to 2015. After writing consistently for four and a half years on FindingStrengthToStandAgain, I took a break the past few months to spend extra time with my children while they were on their long school breaks. Now they are back to their full schedules with school and afternoon activities, and we are all back into our routines. I am refreshed and ready to continue providing inspiration for you by sharing messages of hope.

My main focus of writing this blog remains to be helping educate people by using my experience with having had a stroke and my recovery from this cerebral vascular accident. I hope to teach others about epilepsy and raise awareness for prosopagnosia (a.k.a. face blindness). With my return, I am excited to add a new series to my blog. Look for “Lovely Words”. You’ll see the first post in this series published within the next week.

The most important thing for me is that the time I spend preparing my messages results in helping others grow. This is easiest for me to do when I know what you, my much appreciated readers, are looking to discover. How did you find me? Did you look through search engines like Google or Yahoo? Were you hoping to find more information about strokes, seizures, or prosopagnosia? Or, maybe you just stopped by to find some famous quotes? What are you hoping to read? What information can I provide for you?

Four years of being here with you has taught me a lot about the strength which can be found through optimism and our indomitable human spirit. I have truly appreciated you joining me on this journey. Let’s see what great things 2015 will bring our way!

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Between the Covers

What is in my book BrainStorming: Functional Lessons from a Dysfunctional Brain?
Between the covers you will find:

• 187 pages
• Over 5 years of planning
• 100+ essays divided into 9 categories
• Lessons guided by people who have spoken to me from around the world

I started this blog based on a few questions I was asked by research scientists regarding coping techniques for prosopagnosia. These questions led to more questions. I soon started to write answers to questions I had been pondering in my own mind and were not yet thought of by doctors. And so, years of writing began.
This blog has become my outlet for self-discovery and offered wonderful connections with readers around the world. A long time ago, I started to entertain the idea of publishing a book. After every presentation I had given, at least one person asked why I had not written a book yet. This question was followed with when will I write the book? At first, I doubted my ability. I soon decided that there were people waiting for me to write it, and I loved writing. I went for it.

For nearly a year now, I have been rearranging essays from this blog and trying to determine which essays are the best. And so, the final product is nearly here. Publishers, my book editor (I have the greatest one by the way), and numerous supporters have paved the way for this book to be published. I will have it listed on my new website very, very soon. By the way, have you checked out tarafall.com yet?

Next week I will be traveling half-way across America for a book promotion tour. This will allow me to see old friends and celebrate new accomplishment. Yes, the essays are from the blog, but now you will see the ones I am most excited to share all in one book. Stop back soon to see information on how you can order your copy of BrainStorming: Functional Lessons from a Dysfunctional Brain.

“We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel… is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become.”

– Ursula K. Le Guin

Self-Interview On Achievements

[Interviewer:]   It’s nice to have a high school student here.  What are you going to do with your life?
[Answer I would have given]   I’m going to work at Subway and make sandwiches and hopefully make some extra money.

[Interviewer:]   I’m glad we can talk to a new college student today.  What are you going to do with your life?
[Answer I would have given] I am going to get my college degree and be one of the youngest people to earn it.  I want my BA by the time I turn 20.

[Interviewer:] What are you going to do with your life now that you are getting married?
[Answer I would have given] I am going to have a wonderful family with two beautiful children.

[Interviewer:]   What are you going to do with your life since seizures and amnesia have taken so much?
[Answer I would have given] I am going to leave the lost memories behind and work hard to create even more amazing memories than those I missed.

[Interviewer:]   What are you going to do with your life as you recover from the stroke?
[Answer I would have given]   I am going to walk again.  I am going to be independent.  I am going to raise my family and try to let other people who have gone through a lot know that tomorrow will be brighter.  I am going to help other people realize the potential they have within themselves.

Thank you morguefile.com for the use of this picture

Never once would I have predicted I was going to begin a blog, an on-going writing dialogue, for the world to read.  Never once could I have imagined I would have the opportunity to meet amazing people from all over the world.  I never knew anyone would want to listen.  And, I definitely never dreamed I would have the great gift of everyone’s time and also your responses.

In all my life, I never could have predicted I would be writing, sharing lessons and thoughts, with so many interesting people.  I never expected you would take time to listen, subscribe to my blog and then continue to come back time and time again.  Posts I have put out for the world to see have been read over 25,000 times.

Not too bad coming from a teenager who wanted to be a sandwich artist or a mom who aimed, just hoped, to have two children and then grew into a person hoping to show people the potential they carry within themselves.

Not bad for a lady at home who no longer sees the world completely but always feels totally overwhelmed by the support every single one of those twenty-five thousand visitors offered.

As an interviewer, I would ask you, “What can you accomplish today?  What bigger dreams and amazing realities are waiting for you in the days and years to come?”  I hope you would answer you’ll work hard, enjoy every moment you have, and never doubt the great things you will achieve in your life.

Thank you for taking this journey with me and responding to the messages you are receiving. I continue to hope our adventure can offer optimism demonstrating a life well lived.

Tara

Aiding the Spelling-Challenged —

This is my first attempt to use Press This on WordPress.  I am hoping to share one of my favorite posts with you from 2011.  Judith wrote this fun, magnificent piece that provided a lively discussion with her readers.  I hope it brings you as much joy as it brought me.

Aiding the Spelling-Challenged —.

Warm Regards during this holiday season.

Tara