Whole Brain Journey

Why is Moon River Turkey a Whole Brain Journey?

When I had my stroke, my head screamed, my brain burned in response to the trauma, and I could feel my whole body reach out in almost an SOS response to provide any sort of comfort to my injury. At that time, I became aware of the familiar feeling, my body had sent out SOS’s before to situations, invisible situations in life.  I was wired for survival.

As life continued, I found that self-education on my situation was really the best way to assist me to maintain my sense of self. If I could find information which gave me a good understanding of the consequences of what had happened to me, then I moved forward with more awareness and self-compassion.

I included myself in life as much as I could, while understanding that I had experienced some significant health impacts which altered my views from many. I was very protective of myself and my family. The desire to live as regularly as the next family was important to be a part of the cycle of life. Being amongst regular events such as grocery shopping, school, current TV shows, everyday stress and joy was something which aided my connection to life.

I felt like a WHOLE person when I was responding to the day to day needs of my family, providing for them financially and emotionally. I connected with those around me who were doing what they needed to do for similar reasons.

When I did find connection to a whole community of people living with stroke who I did not know about, it took my breath away initially!

There was a whole other area of my life in which I could now connect with other people on, I suddenly felt included in my lived experience in a way I had not before. I still had a lot of history to resolve, and this knowledge left me feeling a little intrigued as to how far I would be able to delve into my past.

So, in terms of WHOLE, how important is being connected to ourselves, to others, to our communities. In relation to how my business is designed, WHOLE is you, it’s me, it’s why we get out of bed in the morning.

My poetry reflects that human connection.

As far as my business name goes, WHOLE relates to Turkey - if nothing else sometimes I can look at myself in the mirror and I can laugh out loud at the absurd life I have lived, I feel like a Turkey!

And if we continue to connect ourselves with the amazing education and information that is now reaching us about how our brains work. That is where BRAIN fits into the picture. Translating new knowledge about brain function can change attitudes, practices, services and most importantly change lives and people futures.

Integrating knowledge into my life has been a way I have managed to shift areas of pain from the past. I want to live well, be happy, grow old and be a lifelong learner. Being curious about what will help me to do that gives me hope for all of us!

I am fortunate enough to be involved in areas of change through my connections with The Stroke Foundation. It’s an ongoing process of “There is still more work to be done” whenever there is some sort of project or plan. As someone who has lived regionally and rurally all their life, it is such a privilege to be included in conversations of future direction as far as the big picture of stroke goes. In relation to my business name BRAIN relates to Moon, taken from my visualisation of my brain being a beautiful, full, luminous moon - despite it feeling like red, hot, jelly at the time of my stroke.

And JOURNEY, well we are all on a journey to somewhere!

The ebbs and flows of a meandering river remind me of an ongoing journey. JOURNEY is the educational and structural part of my business, the flow of service delivery which will keep my business sustainable and therefore I will be able to contribute more to the communities I am a part of.

I invite interested people, services, or organisations to make an enquiry if they think I can contribute to their life, program, project, business, or event.

There are testimonials on my website to give you an idea of my dedication to any work I do and the authenticity in which I conduct myself along the way.

I look forward to hearing from you!