A few days ago, I published my first book and it is available on Amazon worldwide! I know that my posts are usually centered around movies, but this book is very similar to movies in many ways. First, there are doodles inside that correspond to the poems. Second, the poems chronicle my journey with a concussion and how it took me over 5 years to recover. Third, this book took over 4 years to make, which is similar to how long many movies take from idea to completion.
Today I will talk about my experience with my concussion, it was lonely and educational in so many ways. I would appreciate it so much if you check out the book here, or visit the book’s Instagram here, or share the book’s link on your social media to help spread the word. Thank you so much for supporting me, it means more than you will ever know.
What is a concussion?
There are so many fancy definitions, but a concussion is a type of head injury. There are varying degrees of concussions and some are more severe than others, but so much is still unknown about the length of recovery required. Different people are affected with different concussion symptoms and it is not uncommon for a person to take years to recover. Sometimes people never make a full recovery. This is a very serious injury that needs to be treated with respect.
My experience
I have been to countless doctors and none of them helped me. Yes, you read that right. No doctor significantly helped me during my concussion journey. So little is still known about concussions and I saw that firsthand. I can confidently say that I know more about how a concussion affects the body than any doctor that I have come in contact with.
A concussion not only affects your brain, but your social life, your eating habits, your ability to go to school and leave the house. A concussion has the ability to effect every single aspect of a person’s life. I wish doctors knew more about concussions, so they could have helped me and other concussion warriors recover faster. And if you are reading this and have suffered a concussion yourself, or know someone who has, I am apart of a Facebook Group that shares their concussion journeys. I would highly recommend finding a support group if you feel like you need to find people who you can relate with (because I know that it is extremely hard to go through this alone).
Why did you write a book?
Well, I did not go into this thinking that I was going to write a book. While I was healing from my concussion, I began to write because I was having a hard time expressing my emotions verbally. I did not think that anyone would ever read my writing but me. I had no intention of creating a book. But once I recovered more, I realized that I had so many poems that I had to find something to do with them.
I decided to try to compile a book and eventually that journey led me here: finally publishing the book and sharing it with all of you. I know that many of you are subscribed to this blog for the movie reviews and indie filmmaker interviews, but I think that it is also cool for you to know a little more about me and what led me to this career path. (FYI: There are quite a few poems about films.)
Where can I find the book?
The book follows my journey through the worst days, to the best days. From the horrible pain, to finding a passion in film and allowing it to help me get back into the world.
The book is available online on Amazon here. It is available worldwide and has free Prime shipping in most places! I am so happy to finally share this book with you and I thank you so much for supporting me on this journey. If you share the book on your Facebook or Instagram, that would mean so much to me and would help me so much. I want to help raise awareness for concussions and how they can indefinitely effect a person’s life. My concussion prevented me from going to high school junior and senior year, made me miss prom and graduation, and led me to loose many friends because I was left behind. I hope this book raises awareness and I thank you so much for taking the time to learn more about concussions.
*Some links in this post may be affiliate, which means that I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my creative work! The support never goes unnoticed.
Aloha Arianna 