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Cure by Collage

@curebycollage

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✨ I create analogue collage art using vintage papers.
✨ On a healing journey, one collage at a time.

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I’m slowly starting to share my story. One step at a time. One collage at a time. 🖼️

*** Special thanks to @lilysm.art for an amazing 1st coaching session where she encouraged me to share a bit about the meaning behind my collages. 🙌

#collage
#analoguecollage
#art
#resilience
#spoonie by @curebycollage

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3 months ago

#collage #tbi #traumaticbraininjury #traumaticbraininjuryawareness #concussion by @curebycollage

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23 days ago

Yesterday I finished my 14 day personal paint card challenge. It was an emotional 2 weeks of reflection on my journey in this world with a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). I learned a lot about myself and I discovered an amazing online collage community! Thank you to everyone for your understanding, kindness, and encouragement. ❤️❤️❤️

🎁 I am thrilled to be giving away 2 of the original collages I made during this challenge. I’ll be doing the draw at the end of this week. If you want to enter the draw, you can follow this account @curebycollage and comment on any of the posts related to my 14 day challenge by Thursday September 24th at 11:59pm EDT. Every comment counts for one entry. 🎉🎉🎉

#traumaticbraininjury #traumaticbraininjuryawareness #traumaticbraininjuryrecovery #concussion #postconcussionsyndrome by @curebycollage

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🤗 Day 14 is here - the last day of my personal challenge! Thank you so much for following along these past two weeks 💙. And if you’re new here today, thanks so much for stopping by - details can be found on my Day 1 post. 🩵💙🩵

🖼️ My Day 14 collage is titled Uplift 💙

🙈 My Day 14 tidbit - living life with a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) isn’t easy. There are daily cognitive, physical, and emotional challenges, and I was hesitant to share these challenges. During these past two weeks, I’ve been met with such support, kindness, understanding, and ❤️ from you all. You have uplifted me in ways that I didn’t anticipate. Ways that I needed. You have reminded me that we all belong in this world, whether we have disabilities or not. I am truly grateful for you. ❤️

🎁 Giveaway - I will be giving away two of the original collages from this collection. Each comment on any of the posts from the challenge will give you an entry. If you haven’t commented, and still want to do so, there is still time! I will be taking a couple of days off to rest my 🧠, and then I’ll be back online later this week to do the draw. Stay tuned! 📣

#traumaticbraininjury #traumaticbraininjuryawareness #traumaticbraininjuryrecovery #tbi #tbiawareness by @curebycollage

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a month ago

🤗 Day 13/14 is here! I’m almost done of my personal challenge, and soon we can move on to the giveaway! 🎉🎉🎉

🖼️ My Day 13 collage is titled Beauty in the Dark

🙈 My Day 13 tidbit - If you have been following along the past 2 weeks, you heard about some of the cognitive and physical challenges I experienced and continue to experience as a result of a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Emotional challenges can also occur from a TBI - everyone’s experience is unique and some may experience anxiety, depression, anger, irritability, and trouble coping/adapting with a serious health concern. 😢

During a prolonged period of difficulty (I was feeling hopeless about the future 🥺), someone reminded me that there is always beauty in the dark. I wasn’t sure if I could find anything beautiful, as my life seemed so dark. I decided to start a daily gratitude practice - I’d write down 3-5 things I was grateful for; sometimes I would only write down 1 thing if it was all I could think of in that moment. Over time, it became easier to notice things I was grateful for, and eventually the darkness didn’t seem so dark. I started to see the beauty that was in my life 😍. I saw people, (family, friends, new friends, healthcare providers), nature (trees, indoor plants, ocean, clean air, birds, pets), art, kindness, laughter, the ability to move my body, my resilience, having a chance to be present in this world, and so on. I continue a gratitude practice to this day, and I am sometimes surprised by how much beauty can exist even amongst very challenging life events. 🩷

Today, I am thinking of anyone who is experiencing darkness, and I am sending positive thoughts that we can all find some beauty in our lives. ❤️

#traumaticbraininjury #traumaticbraininjuryawareness #tbi #tbiawareness #postconcussionsyndrome by @curebycollage

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a month ago

🤗 Day 12 of my personal paint card challenge & giveaway has arrived! If you’re new here, thanks for stopping by - more details can be found on my Day 1 post. 🩵

🖼️ My Day 12 collage is titled Long Distance

🙈 My Day 12 tidbit - (note: this caption is about losing a loved one 😢). This feels like the most difficult caption to write, but also the most important.

Living with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) brought daily pain, cognitive & physical challenges, changes in my work status, family struggles & disruption, and many worries about the future. I vividly recall that I wanted time ⏰ to stop so that my injured brain could catch up with everything I was experiencing. When I told a healthcare provider that I wanted time to stop, they responded by saying that ‘life will keep happening’ (they said it with great compassion, and unfortunately it was the truth and a very harsh reality to sit with 🥺).

It was mere months later, when I was in the waiting room at that same healthcare provider’s office, that I got a phone call telling me that my dear mother had passed away unexpectedly. I was in disbelief - it didn’t make sense. I just saw my mother the day before, I told her I loved her, and I told her I would see her on the upcoming weekend. Now, as I stood in the doorway of my provider’s office, the cup of water I was holding in my hand was shaking and I could barely walk into my appointment. I told my provider what I just learned - I don’t remember much of our interaction in those moments that followed, other than I was met with deep kindness and compassion. I believe I was in the exact place I needed to be when I got this crushing news. 😌

My mother is no longer on earth, and I desperately wish I could pick up the 📞 and call her. I’d tell her about the progress I made so far in my recovery, I’d tell her about the art I now make (she never got to see any of it), and I’d tell her all the things I love about her. I’d also tell her how grateful I am to have been loved by her. I don’t think I ever told her that. 🩵

Today, I am thinking of anyone who has experienced immense loss, and hoping you have the support you need. My heart is with you. ❤️ by @curebycollage

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a month ago

🤗 Day 11 of my personal paint card challenge & giveaway has arrived! Thank you to everyone who has been supporting me in this process. If you’re new here, thanks for stopping by - more details are on my Day 1 post. 🩷

🖼️ My Day 11 collage is titled Acceptance 😌

🙈 My Day 11 tidbit - it took me a long time (years 😳) to accept my new reality that came with having a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). I remember being in the Emergency Room department when I was first diagnosed with a TBI. I didn’t know what the future would hold (I just assumed I would eventually get back to my normal). 🤔

When I returned home , I wasn’t prepared for my new reality of daily struggles to shower and get ready independently, take care of my children, cook meals, drive my vehicle, and so on. I also wasn’t prepared for daily pain and cognitive/physical/emotional symptoms. I wasn’t prepared for how I would eventually lose a career that I loved and studied/worked so hard to attain. I wasn’t prepared for the heavy medical bills and financial changes. I wasn’t ready to lose my hobbies and I certainly wasn’t ready for all the relationship changes that would occur due to my TBI. I wasn’t ready for the deep darkness and grief that I would experience. 🥺

I spent so much time resisting my new reality, pushing back at it, while also pulling myself forward with every type of treatment that I had access to, in hopes I would return to who I was before my TBI. 🧠

It has taken years, but I finally feel like I have accepted my situation and the “new me”. I still miss my career, I still cry when I think of all the lost moments with my family because I was too sick to be present, I still sometimes wonder where I would be now if I didn’t suffer a TBI, and I still work daily on my rehabilitation (cognitive, physical, and emotional) to maintain the progress I have made. I also breathe easier, I smile quicker, I go with the flow more, and I look forward to a new future whatever that may be. It is through acceptance that my life feels lighter. 💛

My heart and thoughts go out to others who are experiencing the messiness, the uncertainty, and the pain resulting from a TBI. ❤️❤️❤️ by @curebycollage

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a month ago

🤗 Day 10/14 of my personal paint card challenge and giveaway is here! If you’ve been following along, thank you kindly 💖. If you’re new here, thanks for stopping by ❤️. You can find more details about my challenge and giveaway on the Day 1 post.

🖼️ My Day 10 collage is titled Invisible Pieces 🫥

🙈 My Day 10 tidbit - Many of my struggles resulting from a traumatic brain injury (TBI), aren’t visible. They are hidden beneath the surface, and they only become obvious when someone spends a lot of time around me, or when my symptoms are flared to a level where I can’t hide them 🫣.

Each TBI survivor has a unique set of symptoms. Some of my invisible symptoms include cognitive struggles, such as remembering things, understanding what I read or hear, and following conversations. I also experience extreme cognitive fatigue, trouble with decision making, insomnia, sensitivity to lights (sunlight, ceiling lights, computer screens, etc), intolerance to sounds, headaches, nausea, and balance problems (most times I can hide this unless I try wearing high heels 👠 🤣).

The invisible nature of symptoms can make it difficult for TBI survivors to get the support and accommodations they need, and it can also be difficult for others to understand the situation and know how they can help. I offer my true gratitude to everyone who has been open to learning about TBIs and how they can understand and support those suffering from a TBI. ❤️

#traumaticbraininjury #traumaticbraininjuryawareness #traumaticbraininjuryrecovery #postconcussionsyndrome #tbi by @curebycollage

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a month ago

🤗 Welcome to Day 9 of my personal paint card challenge & giveaway! If you’ve been following along, thanks so much ♥️. If you’re new here, thanks for stopping by. You can find more details on my Day 1 post. 💚

🖼️ My Day 9 collage is titled Soup Time 🍲

🙈 My Day 9 tidbit - this collage isn’t about any one particular bowl of soup. Rather it’s about the struggle that many traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivors face when trying to plan and prepare meals for themselves and/or their families.

Before I suffered a TBI, I enjoyed cooking and baking, and was able to plan and prepare healthy meals for a very busy household. I liked experimenting and trying new recipes 👩‍🍳. Now, what used to be an enjoyable and simple task for me, has become completely unmanageable on my worst days and challenging on my best days 🥺.

Part of the challenge is cognitive 🧠 - planning ahead, making sure that all ingredients are on hand (I forgot to do this many times 😌), following the steps of a recipe in a certain order, allowing adequate time to finish the recipe, or multitasking when preparing more than one dish (I’ve had to abandon many dishes in progress because of this 😌).

Another part of the challenge is physical🚶‍♀️ - reaching, turning my head, visually scanning my stove or countertop, or bending - all of these can exacerbate my vestibular and visual systems, which can lead to dizziness, problems with balance, nausea, and head/neck/eye/shoulder pain. 😓

I am grateful for having access to an Occupational Therapist who has given me some strategies to navigate some of these challenges in the kitchen. 🫶

For anyone else who is struggling to perform the tasks required to provide adequate meals for yourself and/or your family, please know that I understand and I see you. ♥️

#traumaticbraininjury #traumaticbraininjuryawareness #traumaticbraininjuryrecovery #traumaticbraininjurysurvivor #occupationaltherap by @curebycollage

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a month ago

🤗 Day 8 of my personal paint card challenge and giveaway is here! If you’ve been following along, I truly thank you 💗. If you’re new here, thanks for stopping by; you can find details about the challenge and giveaway on my Day 1 post. 💕

🖼️ My Day 8 collage is titled Pause 🧘‍♀️

🙈 My Day 8 titbit - when I decided to do this challenge, I thought (or maybe hoped 🤞) it would be easy 😌. I love making collages, but as it turns out, this challenge has been very tough so far. Sticking to a strict schedule of creating a daily collage and formulating my words in the caption has been very cognitively challenging for me. Prior to acquiring a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) from a car accident, my thoughts and words flowed freely, and I could write with ease. Now, I struggle to find my words and craft sentences. It requires A LOT of cognitive effort, and it can leave me feeling wiped out (cognitively, physically, and emotionally), in physical pain, with sensory overload, unable to process conversations, and so on. Yesterday all of that happened, and it resulted in me cancelling plans with my sisters, sleeping all afternoon, and being unable to prepare a meal for my family. 🥺

Living with a traumatic brain injury means that I have to be very diligent in setting a reasonable pace for myself (even when I am doing fun activities like collage) or else my brain and body will protest. This personal challenge I set for myself pushed me beyond my capacity at a pace I wasn’t ready for. I’ll still continue the challenge, but I will be taking a pause tomorrow. A pause is what my brain needs. I’ll be back on Tuesday. 😉💛🫶

#analogcollage #analoguecollage #arttherapy #traumaticbraininjury #traumaticbraininjuryawareness by @curebycollage

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a month ago

📣 Day 7 of my personal challenge has arrived! If you’ve been following along, thanks so very much ♥️. If you are new here, thanks for stopping by and you can find more details on my Day 1 post. 🫶💛😊

🖼️ My Day 7 collage is titled ‘What was I thinking?’

🙈 My Day 7 tidbit - I never considered myself artistic or creative. In fact, I spent most of my life chasing academic, athletic, and career accomplishments. Deciding to share my collages online seemed very scary, especially because I have no formal art training and I am new to collage. It’s also uncomfortable sharing my journey with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) as I am typically a very private person. My fears and hestitations have been met with such kindness, understanding, and encouragement. The online collage community is remarkable. I’ve met so many wonderful people and for that I am truly grateful. I’m glad I took the leap. 💛🙌🤝

#collage #analoguecollage #analogcollage #giveaway #traumaticbraininjury by @curebycollage

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a month ago

🤗 Day 6 of my personal paint card challenge & giveaway is here! If you’re new here, thanks for stopping by. You can find more details about my challenge in my Day 1 post. 💙

🖼️ My Day 6 collage is titled Young at Heart 💙

🙈 My Day 6 tidbit - Truthfully, I need a break today from posting content that feels heavy and overwhelming. Heavy emotions often aggravate my post concussion syndrome which leads to a lot of physical and cognitive challenges 🧠. With that in mind, I created a collage today that feels a bit lighter. The practice of collage brings me back to a time when I was carefree, less burdened, and more alive. Collage lets me play just for the sake of it. Here’s hoping we all feel young at heart today! Happy creating! 💙♥️💙

#collage #analog #art #arttherapy #traumaticbraininjury by @curebycollage

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