Listen To Your Own Story

In 2020, I launched a new venture….my Podcast Medical Musings With Sam.

Firstly I want to thank you all so much for your support. This has been one of the most rewarding, emotionally challenging adventures, I’ve ever tackled.

Why? I think because it’s caused me to really go down memory lane in a way I wasn’t expecting.

As I’ve recorded each episode, in particular, My Story which is my first episode in Series 1 , then My Stoma Story and The Day My Femur Broke episodes in series 3……wow I was not expecting such a range of emotions to come bubbling to the surface!!

My husband and I had forgotten how much we have been through over the past 7 years. It’s been crazy, ridiculous even. I couldn’t have concocted such a story script if asked!!

In fact, I’ve even left out some of the story details, to try to keep the content digestible for both me and my listeners.

So, I’m a little exhausted as a result of it all, which is not surprising. I’ve recorded 43 Podcasts over 8 episodes mostly with content from my blogs.

It’s a good exhaustion. It comes from achieving something important to me.

So Cathartic

It got me thinking though….I often talk about how writing is so cathartic and it is. Getting our stories down on paper brings them to life and helps us to make sense of it all, to some degree anyway.

I didn’t expect recording my story and listening to it, would create any different response from writing about it.

I was so wrong.

Recording it was like talking to a therapist. We express ourselves a little differently when talking. We also catch the emotion in our voices. I remember crying with some of the articles I’ve written, but when your recording your voice and the tears begin to flow, it’s an emotional response on a whole new level.

It’s raw and it’s real.

I listened to my Podcast story episodes with my husband, to make sure he was ok with the content. Given he features a lot, he definitely needed to fact check for me!

As he listened, he also had the same strong emotional response, even though he’s read these stories before. He’s lived them! They are as much his as they are mine.

Listening to them, rather than reading them, was just so different for him as well. He heard every word. He relived every moment. It all took him by surprise.

Skimming The Surface Or Diving Deep

When reading a book or an article, we often skim read without realising it. We can easily miss an important moment, or the gist of a particular sentence, paragraph or chapter.

When we listen to a recording, assuming we are interested in the topic or story, we hear every word. We hear the intent, the plot, the layers of emotion in the person’s voice. We dive a little deeper and can connect in a stronger way with the story teller.

The spoken word can take us on a completely different journey, where life is breathed into the written word.

If you have travelled a complex chronic illness journey, I’d encourage each of you to record your voice. Tell your own health journey story. You don’t have to share it. It can be just for you.

It will likely be an emotional journey for you too. Don’t be surprised if the tears flow. Let them. Its healing.

Listening to your own story may even help you understand why you respond and react emotionally, to new health issues as they arise or a change in life circumstances.

Quite simply it’s because you’ve already been through so much, so much you have likely forgotten. You’re tired and exhausted from your history and you need to remind yourself of it, so you can take stock.

If we can look back, we can look forward. We can see how far we’ve come. We can see how strong we’ve been. We can see how we were able to overcome each and every hurdle when, at the time, we thought we never would.

We easily keep giving ourselves a message of being unable to go on. If we look back at how far we’ve come, how much we’ve overcome, we can gain strength for today, strength for tomorrow. We can change the message we give ourselves. We can tell ourselves we are stronger than we realise today. Our story proves it. Our history proves it.

At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail.

Job 14:7

A Book In The Making

Recording my story as a Podcast, also became the tool for me to sort my blog into chapters for my upcoming book. I’m so excited to have signed a publishing contract with ImagineWe Publishers. A dream coming true.

So, thank you all again for your amazing support. For putting up with me sharing my blogs, articles and now my Podcast.

I hope the work I’m doing is resonating with you on some level. I guess my main hope, is my various ventures are providing an overarching connection and direction, for my online forum members on Medical Musings With Friends.

I’m always open to feedback and suggestions. I’m always looking to continuously improve my forum and the patient advocacy work I do. So please reach out anytime with your thoughts and ideas.

I obviously can’t please everyone but if I can provide an array of content in my blog/podcast, then hopefully, there will be something for everyone, and you can just skip what’s not for you.

You all mean the world to me. You have enriched my life and I hope together, My Medical Musings and my adjunct ventures will enrich yours.

Lots of love

Sam xx 

Coming Soon….My book “My Medical Musings”, is being published by Imaginewe Publishers. Pre-release sale will be available late April/early May 2022

If you’re looking for genuine support, care, understanding and friendship, you are so welcome to join my closed Facebook support forum, Medical Musings with Friends . It’s a safe place to connect with others living with chronic and complex diseases, who truly understand the daily challenges. A warm welcome awaits.

I’m a Contributor at “The Mighty”. You can check out my published articles at My Author Page

I also write @ Blogs by Christian Women

I’m a member of  the Chronic Illness Bloggers Network  the  Grace Girls Facebook Group and the Salt and Light Linkup Group

If you would like to read a little more about my journey, here’s the link to My Story

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