ETB 51: Writing as Therapy: A Personal Voyage into Resilience and Hope

ETB 51: Have you ever pondered over the therapeutic power of writing in dealing with overpowering emotions? Join me, Sandy Deppish, on this personal journey as I revisit an old blog post titled 'It's Not About Me.' You'll discover how documenting the highs and lows of raising a child with a disability has helped me process my feelings and paved the path for resilience and hope.

This episode is also a heartfelt tribute to my son Josiah, and all children living with disabilities - the true heroes of our stories. Their courage, strength, perseverance, and infectious joy in the face of daily struggles are awe-inspiring. I hope my recount of their journey brings you the same inspiration and admiration they bring me every day. Let's embrace the blessings our amazing kids bring to our lives, together!

Connect with Sandy:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/sandydeppisch
Embrace the Blessing Facebook Group: http://bit.ly/ETB4ME
Website: http://www.embracetheblessing.com/

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey there, I'm Sandy Deppish, and this is the Embrace
the Blessing podcast.
Each week, I talk with a parentwho has a child with a
disability.
They share their biggestchallenge, their greatest joy
and their hopes and dreams forthe future.
You'll learn about resourcesavailable to you and discover
helpful hints and tips If youwant to be inspired and

(00:27):
encouraged.
Stick around.
Let's walk the road lesstraveled together.
Okay, guys, so it's been awhile since a new episode has
been published.
There actually has been acouple of delays for some of the

(00:47):
recordings that I've beenplanning to do, and I was also
away for a week enjoying afabulous vacation, but I did
want to get something out forthis week, and so I went back to
my blog post.
I looked over some of thethings that I had written, and
this is something that I wroteback in 2019, called it's Not
About Me, and I wanted to readthis to you guys.

(01:10):
So, yes, it's going to soundlike I'm reading and not like
I'm talking, but bear with me,because I think, if you have a
child with a disability and yougo through some very challenging
times, I would love toencourage you to write down
what's happening, whether it's ajournal, whether you start your
own blog, just somehow recordwhat is happening, because when

(01:34):
I go back and read some of theblog posts that I wrote 10 years
ago or longer, I really don'tremember all of those details,
and I'm so grateful that I havethem saved, because it gives a
history of what we've beenthrough and it gives me an
opportunity to be so gratefulfor the grace that God has given
us to get through the reallyhard times and to know that we

(01:56):
are on the other side of thatnow and I hope that's hopeful
for you if you're strugglingcurrently to realize that it's
not going to last forever.
There is hope on the other side.
You have to go through thedifficulties, but if you need
help, reach out.
There are people who want tosupport you.
You just need to ask for thehelp.
Anyway, hopefully this willencourage you to start recording

(02:18):
what's been going on in yourlife.
For me it felt cathartic.
It was a way for me to let itgo.
I could get it out and not haveto live in it and have those
thoughts of how overwhelming itwas constantly rambling around
in my brain.
I could write it down andrelease it.
It's very, very helpful.
Okay, this was in April of 2019, called it's Not About Me.

(02:41):
I started this blog years ago,encouraged by a friend to share
our journey.
I was hesitant at first.
Life in our house isn't pretty.
It's often chaotic, confusingand challenging.
It's loud and smelly andall-consuming.
Why share that with the world?
Once I started writing, Icouldn't stop Writing it all

(03:02):
down.
As it unfolded, became my wayof escape.
If I wrote about it, I couldrelease it, capturing all the
heartache and struggle,embracing it for what it is.
Then letting it go became mytherapy.
It's taken me all these years torealize, however, none of this
is about me.
Like an Oprah Winfrey ahamoment, I finally get it.

(03:26):
It's not about me.
I'm just the mom.
I'm the one who gets a frontrow seat and a bird's eye view,
and one of the ones continuouslybeing molded and shaped, and
hopefully refined, by this pathwe are on.
But this is all so much moreabout the real hero of the story
.
This is about Josiah.

(03:46):
It's about all the Josiahs inthe world who live in bodies
that define them, who have nowords to express themselves, who
face challenges on a dailybasis.
Many of us can't even begin toimagine.
This is about all those who,for reasons we aren't privy to
this side of heaven, enduredaunting daily struggles yet

(04:07):
wake up with smiles on theirfaces, who are left out, ignored
and dismissed.
This is for the ones who haveno words to express their pain,
no way to let you know they aresuffering and need relief, who I
can only imagine must worktirelessly trying to problem
solve ways to get their messageacross, to help us understand

(04:31):
who, out of desperation andanguish, punch themselves five
hundred times in two hours,while in attack mode on anyone
brave enough or foolish enoughto stand in their way.
This is for the one who visitedhospital emergency rooms three
times in one week, only to havea horde of strangers, three

(04:52):
times in one week, burst intothe room to restrain him on the
bed, to insert things in hisbody.
No one ever once inserted inthe first place, all the while
ignoring his scared cries andpainful screams.
This is for the one who justdoesn't understand, no matter
how many times you explain, orhow many different ways you

(05:13):
explain, that it will all beover soon, that no one is trying
to hurt him, that everyone isdoing their best to help.
This is for the one who had nochoice in the matter, who must
endure, because what otheroption did he have?
I was playing a game with agroup of students recently.
We each rolled dice and,depending upon the number rolled

(05:37):
, had to answer a getting toknow you question.
I rolled a five share.
Your favorite hero most in theroom given the same question
would have responded withanswers like spider man or
Superman or Batman, maybewithout thinking I blurted out
my hero is my son, josiah.
Choking on the words as thetears began to flow.

(05:59):
I tried to provide a briefexplanation, then pass the dice.
I was surprised by my emotionaloutburst.
I wasn't, however, surprised bymy answer.
Josiah and all those like himare the true heroes, the ones
who live their lives withcourage, who persevere no matter
how difficult the challenge,who inspire us to never give up,

(06:20):
to keep doing the very besteach day, to find joy in the
moment, to celebrate life whenit's good and to be brave and
strong when it's not, to lovefiercely and with abandon and,
no matter what, to wake eachmorning with a smile.