November 18, 2025 • 36 mins
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What if the life you built—career, identity, confidence—vanished overnight? Mary sits down with Shannon Michelle, a former LA interior designer whose world changed after a near-fatal motorcycle crash and, later, a breast cancer diagnosis. The story that follows isn’t about superhuman grit; it’s about ordinary presence practiced relentlessly, and the surprising ways community, faith, and tiny decisions can carry us through the unthinkable.
Shannon takes us into the ICU, the months-long coma, and the slow work of relearning everything from walking to using a phone. She explains how an EMT on the beach, friends who covered hospital walls with photos, and nurses who saw the whole person made healing feel possible when memory could not. We explore her yes, no, maybe method for simplifying choices during brain recovery, why surrendering control is not defeat, and how the lavender heart eye patch became both a medical tool and a statement of self-acceptance.
When cancer arrived a year and a half later, Shannon applied the same practice: do the best you can today, and leave tomorrow to tomorrow. We talk about friendships that deepened, others that faded, and the courage required to pivot from a high-profile design career to a purpose-driven life helping others rebuild. Her book, Step Into Your Miracle, distills a patchwork self-care approach that’s honest about pain, gentle with progress, and fiercely hopeful.
If you’re standing in the rubble of a before-and-after moment, this conversation offers clear tools, grounded encouragement, and a new lens on resilience. Listen, share with someone who needs it, and tell us: what would your 2.0 look like? Subscribe, leave a review, and email nsvpodcast@gmail.com with your takeaways and future topic ideas.
You can find Shannon HERE.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Mary (00:05):
Welcome to No Shrinking Violets.
I'm your host, Mary Rothwell,licensed therapist and certified
integrative mental healthpractitioner.
I've created a space where wecelebrate the intuition and
power of women who want to breakfree from limiting narratives.
We'll explore all realms ofwellness, what it means to take
up space unapologetically, andhow your essential nature is key
(00:28):
to living life on your terms.
It's time to own your space,trust your nature, and flourish.
Let's dive in.
Hey Violets, welcome to theshow.
When I was a kid, my mom wouldoften say, there's always
someone better off and worse offthan you are.
When I was a teenager, I wasonly able to really see the
(00:50):
people that were better off thanme.
As I got older and had less ofthe egocentric worldview of the
young, I started to see morepeople who had been through
really hard things, and it hadthe effect I think my mom
intended.
I more readily recognized notonly my own blessings, but I
appreciated those that weregiven huge challenges and came
(01:10):
through them with strength andresilience.
It seems every day, with theinternet giving us a window into
everything, we see stories ofpeople experiencing
life-changing challenges orgut-wrenching loss.
And I feel pretty sure that Iwould struggle to find the grace
and radical acceptance to moveon that I see in many of these
stories.
(01:30):
My guest today has experiencedher own life-impacting
challenges, yet she is heretoday to tell her story from a
place of purpose, balance, andjoy.
Shannon Michelle was once aleading interior designer in Los
Angeles, but she facedunimaginable challenges after a
near-fatal motorcycle accidentand a battle with breast cancer.
(01:51):
Through faith, resilience, andradical self-discovery, she
rebuilt her life and now helpsothers do the same through her
book, Step Into Your Miracle,and her patchwork self-care
practice.
Welcome to No Shrinking VioletShannon.
Hi.
Hello, everybody.
It's so good to have you heretoday.
Shannon (02:13):
Thank you.
And I I love every moment ofthis new world I live in, you
know.
So thank you for having me.
And um yes.
Mary (02:23):
Sure.
And we're gonna learn aboutthat world.
So, you know, I think thatoften when we have big things
happen, and you certainly hadbig things happen, we can tend
to see life in the the beforeand the after.
And I think, and we talked alittle before we hit record of
how merging them can sometimesbe a challenge.
(02:44):
So, what can you tell us aboutyour life before the motorcycle
accident and share a little bithow that event happened?
Okay.
Shannon (02:55):
Uh so as you said, I was a very high-end interior
designer here in Los Angeles.
I ran my own company for 25plus years.
I had furniture stores back inthe day when that was a thing.
And um and I had an amazingcareer uh doing something that I
felt very comfortable in and Iwas very good at, and I I loved
(03:17):
the process of.
Um, and so that was what I didbefore.
And then I and my daughter, Ihave a daughter, she's uh now
22, and she had just left forcollege.
And I was feeling this freedomof just taking care of doing my
self-care instead of you knowdoing the mommy care.
(03:39):
And I was I loved being a mom,but I realized that I put a lot
of energy into just doing that.
So once she went off tocollege, I kind of like, oh,
house to myself.
And and so one of the thingsthat I had done for about five
years is I rode motorcycles witha group, mostly women riders,
but it was a group and men andwomen.
(04:01):
And I, it was my Sunday school.
I went um on Sundays and Iwould ride and we would do
distance riding.
And I was on my way back fromone of those rides, and I had uh
separated myself from my group.
And um somebody did an illegalU-turn in PCH, Pacific Coast
Highway, and they threw me up inthe air from what I've been
(04:22):
told, 30 to 40 feet, because Idon't have any memory of this,
thankfully.
Traumatic brain injuries havepluses and minus.
Um, and so um threw me up inthe air, landed back.
There happened to be an EMT onthe beach that ran up and did
his moments of saving my life.
(04:43):
There was a car that saw thishappen, that he was a motorcycle
rider that stopped everybodyfrom rolling over me.
I mean, layers and layers ofgifts in the fact that I'm even
sitting here today.
Um, so they drop shipped meinto UCLA and they kept me in a
coma for a few months becausethe brain trauma was so severe.
Also, every part of my body wasbroken, not just the obvious
(05:05):
eye, but my brain, both mywrists, my hips, they put new
hips in, you name it.
It's it's been adjusted on thisperson.
Um, and then um so I was in thehospital for about three
months, and then they brought mehome.
And um and it's been a slow andsteady day-to-day moment of
(05:26):
recovery because they wouldn'tlet me walk because I because
they they didn't they didn'thave any idea what if I was
gonna look out a window for therest of my life, if I was gonna
be able to walk, you name it.
They were everybody wondered.
Um, but slowly, and I just keptkind of waking up each morning
morning and being like, Okay,okay, and and then I would do
(05:50):
whatever it took in that day toget through the day.
And how I could, and that wentfrom learning to walk myself
again and you name it, likelearn to go to the bathroom by
myself, take a shower, likeeverything had been stolen from
me in a way, not stolen, buttaken and um deleted because my
(06:11):
brain memory also had beendeleted from the brain trauma.
And when I woke up, I did notknow where I was, I did not
understand anything.
And so I had to rebuild mybrain capacity as well as my
body usage and my like to thepoint where I didn't even know
what a cell phone was or mycomputer, like major deletes.
(06:33):
Um, and I had to really relearnand regrow how to do all of
that again as well.
Mary (06:39):
Yeah.
My gosh.
And so most people will be justlistening to this.
So I'll tell you that Shannonis wearing an eye patch with,
and I don't have my glasses on,so I think it's a heart, right?
Shannon (06:52):
It is, it's my it's my logo.
It's a lavender heart and it'swinking at you.
And um, it's this of thedesigner in me when all of this
uh, you know, new life that I'mnew career, all of that.
I'm like, I want things to lookpretty.
So when I put I have to wear myeye patch every day to not have
(07:13):
the double vision because therewas a severe all kinds of words
I can put around it, butbasically it gives me double
vision.
And so the eye patch is whatallows me to, you know, uh depth
perception and space and youknow, all of the things that
you're you don't realize whenyou have two eyes how much they
(07:34):
both do until you're moving youdown to one working in the right
direction.
So yeah.
Um thank you.
Yes, I love my eye patch.
Mary (07:41):
Yeah.
Well, and I think about thefact that, you know, when things
happen, um huge things happen,it's sometimes as a result of
someone else's actions.
Was that part of your healingto have to accept that?
Shannon (07:59):
I think yes.
I believe that my healing hadto do with the concept that I
couldn't control things anymore.
And that was huge because I hadled my whole life, including
riding motorcycles, is I've gotcontrol, I can do this mind
frame.
And I woke up not being able todo anything and having depend
(08:24):
depend on everybody, and that'snot a fun feeling.
Um, and so yeah, I I had tofind a way to find almost
kindness with myself with askingfor so much help because I it
was hard again.
At first I just felt so guiltythat I was putting all these
people through this.
And I was like, Oh, Shannon,remember what you're going
(08:47):
through too.
And that's what we have toremember is that self-care is
like whatever we're goingthrough, we need to do our
self-care first.
Because as um an amazingtherapist in my recovery said to
me, Shannon, don't worry aboutwhat happened before or what's
going to happen next, but juststay present in this moment.
Talk to me in this moment.
(09:08):
And I kept that with me.
And I had to keep remindingmyself that anytime something
felt uncomfortable or off or sador even happy, like you you to
stay present in that moment andthat be your day and that be
your minute.
And and that is that gave mefreedom to wake up in pain, to
(09:29):
wake up not knowing, and to knowthat I can try this day today.
And then I could, if I don't doit so well, I'll try it again
tomorrow.
And giving myself the space todo that as well, I think that's
important anybody's life, isthat you give yourself the
freedom and the space to be thebest you can be today, and not
yesterday's Shannon, nottomorrow Shannon, but today's
(09:52):
Shannon.
And that's you know, that takesa lot of um again, self-care
for me.
It has.
Mary (09:58):
Oh, for sure.
And you know, you had torecover from not just physical
injuries, but the emotionalinjuries.
And how long did it take you toget your memory back?
And did that include forgettingpeople in your life?
Shannon (10:13):
Oh, yeah.
Mary (10:14):
Oh, wow.
Shannon (10:15):
Yeah.
It was, it was, it basicallyhad deleted a lot.
But as my neurologist told me,Shannon, it's all still in
there.
Just keep, just keep creatingthe new pathways in your brain
because the brain trauma twistedthings up a bit.
But he's like, just know it'sstill in there.
And I and I just remember, yes,I remember um a little bit of
(10:37):
the nursing hospital moments.
And um, that's when I startedto have some memory coming back,
like that, like recognizing theone person supposedly that they
told me I never forgot was mydaughter, which of course is the
most beautiful thing you wantto hear.
I don't you don't want toforget the the the your your
your um your heart.
(10:59):
Your heart yeah, that's a goodway to put it.
Um and so yeah, and I had youknow handfuls of friends, you
know, coming to visit me and I'dsmile and and say hello, and
they would think that I wouldrecognize them, but I don't
remember them, or I would askthem to touch my hand because
that felt like a connection,like, oh, I kind of remember
(11:22):
you.
Tell me your name again.
You know, and I knew you for 25years.
Tell me your name again.
It got it was a little messy.
Um, and that that has fadedaway mostly.
Um now I just deal with theshort-term memory limitations,
which is you know, a lot ofpeople in their lives, whether
it be from a traumatic braininjury, but there's all kinds of
(11:43):
you know moments that happen tous physically and mentally,
where things can be moredifficult to think, more
difficult to even age, you know,we all I'm I'm now 56, like uh,
you know, people say to me,Well, you know, your age, I'm
like, yeah, no, I I I know it'smy age too, but um, but I've
(12:05):
learned how to track things, howto when I know something's
super important and I don't wantto forget, I have these ABCs
that I do to not forget.
And that's hard to do when yourun a corporation and have a ton
of employees and you think thatand you I had no issue
remembering anything previous tomy accident.
Like even in the interiordesign world that I was in, I
(12:28):
would walk into a space and itwould just, it would, it'd be
like a picture of my brain, andI'd move it around and the
picture is still there.
And I would, I would just beable to do my work months later,
years later from from havingthat visual moment.
And um, that was that was animportant part, I think, of my
my personal recovery because Iwhen I looked at images of
(12:51):
somebody, I'd be like, oh yeah,I remember you.
Oh, that's a trip we took.
Or, you know, and again, Ithink visual is a strong place
to start with brain, any kind ofbrain difficulties.
unknown (13:03):
Yeah.
Mary (13:04):
Well, you mentioned the people visiting you.
And when I looked at yourwebsite, you have pictures of
yourself in the hospital.
But the one thing that I reallynoticed was you had a wall of
all kinds of pictures andsomeone, oh, I'm trying to think
of the quote now.
Oh, I can't think of the quote.
Darn it.
Um, but somebody had writtensomething, and but when I saw
(13:27):
that, I was like, wow.
And I think you were not evenaware yet that it was there, but
I'm wondering how much of thoseconnections and relationships,
how important were all of thosethings in helping you to heal?
Shannon (13:43):
Um, so important.
So important to be, even whenyou can't see yourself to be
seen, I think is reallyimportant.
And I know that with thesupport and the love that
everybody gave me in in such aconstant way, it gave me hope
that I was somebody worthtalking to, hope that I was
(14:06):
somebody, you know, worthrepairing.
Like it reminded me who I was,even though I couldn't remember
who I was, it reminded me who Iwas.
And and that was super helpfulfor me.
Um they and the and theirpatience, you know, some some
people didn't have as muchpatience as others and have not
stayed in my life, and that'sokay too.
(14:28):
Um, but the patience thatsomebody can have for your
changes and your difficulties isto me the strength within a
friendship or a relationship ofany sort.
Like the people who truly stuckaround past my hospital stay,
(14:51):
past my, you know, being able towalk again, those people, they
haven't gone anywhere.
They're accepting the new methe way I come.
And they see, they see theconsistency of the old me in
there, but they really have thiskindness about this new me,
because that's it's a new friendthat they're meeting that
they're meeting as well,especially some of my best
friends.
(15:11):
Like those were some, I'm Iknow for them, some very
difficult times to see somebodythat you care for so much in so
much pain and in so muchanguish.
And then you keep showing upfor them in a way that allows
them to see themselves againbecause that connection again.
(15:31):
It's it's a beautiful thing.
It and it was.
Um Yeah, and I'm not sure ifthere's any more explanation
outside of that, but it wasimportant.
Mary (15:44):
Yeah.
Well, and I think what struckme was knowing that you couldn't
see those pictures yet.
And they were they uh seemed tobe pictures of you with
important people in your life orat in important times of your
life.
What struck me was the faithpeople had in your recovery by
putting pictures up that youcouldn't even see to create that
feeling and that positivity wasthat was amazing for me to see
(16:08):
that.
Shannon (16:10):
And it was, it was also what I think what I've been
told as well, it was soinspiring for the nurses and the
doctors because they're inthere every day dealing with
these, let's just say, verybroken people in different ways.
And to to be able to kind ofget a visualization of who
they're supporting and whothey're helping, I think helps
(16:30):
them as well.
It connects them and it ithelped them realize who was
lying in that bed that was in acoma that they don't know, you
know.
And I think again, um, theimages help the connections for
everybody.
Um, and and oh, I don'tremember any of them.
I've seen pictures, I mean,I've seen plenty of of images,
(16:51):
um, but I don't remember thosebeing there.
But I know that even again,somebody that walked in the door
to like hold my hand while Iwas in a coma was there and it
they had something interestingother than to other than just me
and my coma to look at.
They had, you know, my travels,my this, my that.
And, you know, it kept themcapable of seeing something
(17:15):
other than just the hospitalbed, you know, and and the and
the broken me.
Because it was, again, it wasif if if you look at my book at
the back, there's some verysignificant photos back there
when I was, you know, everythingwas tied up, looped up at the
hospital.
And um it was it was a lot.
(17:36):
And it and it it also inspiresme because when I look back at
that, even though I don'tremember it, it reminds me of
all my progress.
So sometimes it's just seeingyour progress, and I have to be
reminded about okay, Shannon, bekinder to yourself.
Look all that you've done somany baby steps to get here, and
then remember where you were,buddy.
Yeah.
Mary (17:58):
So do you still have residual pain?
Are there things you still haveto deal with pain-wise?
Shannon (18:04):
Yeah, I do.
Um, so from not from what I canremember, but from my body
pain, my I think I fell all onmy right side.
And I still have um, I do mygentle yoga is to get, you know,
I took it took a few surgeriesand um it's still I can still
feel because they they neverthought this would work, but I
(18:25):
can still feel um a little bitof pain in my wrist, in this one
specifically, in my ankle andin my knee.
And it's not anywhere as closeas what it used to.
It's like the pain keptlightening, like it went from
like 80% pain to, you know, nowI'm at like 10% pain in certain
areas of my body.
But it it that doesn't go away,at least for me at this point.
(18:47):
And I keep working on doing mygentle yoga classes and taking
my walks and building strengthagain because being put in that
three months, no more than threemonths of not being able to do
to move anything, do anything,and then all your muscles like,
you know, come down to nothing.
Um, and so to rebuild that andto continue to rebuild it.
And I even have moments whereI'm like, oh, yeah, you use your
(19:10):
right side, your left side alittle bit more than your right
still.
So there's a balance issue thatI'm working on now because I
used the one side so much in myrecovery that now my body and my
brain is not, it doesn'tremember to use both sides.
It's like you got to balancethat out.
Um yeah.
And so it's still it's and thenthe eye.
(19:32):
Um I've I've had one surgery umand they've kind of pulled it
over as far as they could.
So it's a little better place,but I still have double vision
because I have, you know, I haveto sit in a circle certain
angle not to see double vision.
Um, and with my brain recovery,I kind of put my eye on the
back burner because I justwanted to keep building my
(19:54):
brain.
Yeah.
And so covering my eye, and Idid, you know, I I've done the
baby steps of trying to get morestrength back, but I'm I'm now
becoming comfortable with I'm aneye patch girl.
Mary (20:05):
Well, and you're owning it, right?
You it's you're signature, yoursignature patch now.
Shannon (20:10):
Yeah, I am, I am.
And I and I love it.
It's it is the new me.
It and I always say to people,it's like my new pair of shoes.
I have to like what I see whenI look down at my shoes, and
when I look at my eye patch,like I I that's something that I
visually like to like when Ilook in the mirror.
And it took me quite a while toget comfortable.
And I think we all get thisway, whether it be post-having a
(20:32):
baby or you know, age orwhatever, things change and you
have to get comfortable with thechanges.
And that to me is a part of whyI wanted to share on both sides
what somebody would be goingthrough or could be going
through, and how people can helpothers through trauma is the
main reason why I think that thebook is is going to help
(20:58):
others.
My book is going to help othersis to see how they can step
into their miracle.
Um, because sometimes we get alittle lost and we need to walk
down the roads in our life alittle differently.
You know?
Mary (21:12):
Yeah.
Well, and the one thing struckme that you said, because I hear
this often, that there arepeople who stuck around and
there are people that fell away.
And that seems to be a themeoften when we go through
something really hard and werealize I need to stand in the
present.
I need to just try to be thebest person I can.
And there's no more timeanymore or energy or space to
(21:38):
allow something that maybedoesn't feel congruent.
And so I'm just curious thatthe people that are no longer in
your life, are you surprisedabout who they ended up being?
Shannon (21:52):
I think mostly no.
I have one specific friend thatI miss a lot that I used to
ride with.
And it's not like she'scompletely gone out of my life,
but she has faded away quite abit.
And I miss her.
And I I'm still trying to nottake it personally.
And that's the best thing todo.
(22:14):
And I don't, I really don'tanymore, but it still makes me
sad that she's not a part of mymy weekly life, you know.
And that's probably that that'sone of the harder ones.
Um, but I also understand it.
I mean, we used to ride everySunday together, and I think
there's a level of confrontingsomething that you don't want to
(22:35):
have happen to you in a way.
Um, there has to be some sorrowthat comes from her when she
looks at me now because it'ssomething that she still loves
and does.
And there's, you know, it'sit's it's trying to put yourself
and surround yourself withpeople that are kind of more
balanced with where you are inlife.
(22:56):
And we're a little out ofbalance now.
I don't know how long that willbe.
It might be for the rest of mylife.
I don't know, but we'll see.
We'll see how.
Mary (23:05):
Well, you mentioned again before I hit record, you talked
about Shannon 2.0.
So I'm curious what isdifferent?
What do you feel like yourstrengths are now that you may
not have even realized pre- somany.
Shannon (23:19):
Yeah.
So many.
Um, so yes, I had to comearound to the place where I try
I had to mentally understandthat I was rebirthed in a way.
And the Shannon 1.0 was verydifferent than the Shannon 2.0.
And the Shannon 2.0 learned howto be vulnerable and not make
(23:43):
it in her own mind think it'sneedy.
Because I think I was veryafraid of being too vulnerable
because I thought it would bebroken in other ways otherwise.
And so I, you know, I would Iwould do my best at caring for
others, but my self-care waskind of second tier.
And that doesn't help anybodybecause if you're not taking
(24:06):
care of yourself as much as youpossibly can, how can you, how
can you help care for others?
And so I think that was thebiggest lesson is to be
vulnerable and to ask for helpum empowered me to get better.
And if you would have askedShannon 1.0, that that would not
have been what she would havesaid.
(24:26):
So living present in a presentmoment is empowering as well.
I say that to many people andthe words sound familiar, but I
think when people try to live ineach moment and not toast
what's happened, it's hard todo.
Yeah.
You know, and I'd say that ifyou can find strength in each
(24:48):
moment when you're feelingsorrow about anything or
something means seems to bedifficult, I came up with a very
simple because brain recovery,yes, no, and maybe.
And I would be, I'd answermyself, is this the right thing
to do?
Yes, no, or maybe.
Yes is yes, no is no, and maybealways was not.
(25:09):
Let's put that, let's put thataside for now.
It can come back later.
And it's okay for it to be amaybe and uh it and it to be
asked again later, but not notat this moment.
You don't have an answer thismoment, that's okay too.
And I kept having to remindmyself it's okay not to have an
answer.
So the yes, no, maybe was washuge as well in my recovery, and
(25:30):
it still is.
I, you know, I'm relearning tolive with my daughter.
Um, she's graduated fromcollege, which is a beautiful
thing, but you know, I'mlearning the ins and outs of
having an adult in my house.
Yeah.
You know.
Um, and so yeah, I'd say thatthere have been many gains.
There were plenty of losses.
(25:51):
It's not like it's beendifficult.
And I don't know if we talkedabout this, but a year and a
half after my accident, and thisis something I sometimes forget
and I can't, is I was diagnosedwith breast cancer.
Mary (26:02):
Yes, that that was I was get I was getting.
We did it, we did not even,it's like the I for I think it's
called a bobo doll where youpunch it and it goes back and
comes back up.
I feel like that was you, likeokay, now this on top of, yeah,
on top of everything else.
Shannon (26:18):
And when it happened, I remember getting the call and
laughing and thinking it wasfunny because I thought I had
been through so much.
If my life was gonna be taken,it would have been taken.
And I I personally had to learnthat no matter what happens to
us, that doesn't mean moretrauma can't.
So don't try to compare whereyou sit today with where you can
(26:41):
be tomorrow.
Just sit with today.
And I'm gonna do the best at mycancer today, or I'm gonna do
the best at my brain today.
And know that there's not anebb and flow with traumatic
things happening.
They can come after moretrauma.
So until you can stay presentin the moment and not sit and
worry, then you know, that'sstrength that you can build.
Mary (27:05):
And I think we like to know what's happening or we like
to have an answer.
We like things to be black andwhite.
So when you add the maybe inthere, that's important because
your entire life for that timewas uncertainty.
And when you talk about beingpresent, typically it's the lack
of certainty that most peoplehave trouble with because when
(27:25):
we're in that liminal space,when we don't know like what is
gonna happen, and for you, it'spretty much your life
deconstructed itself to thepoint that you could not
remember important parts of itand you had to reconstruct it.
And I think I think about youknow, you have this elaborate
life of Legos, and someone takesit apart, and the next morning
(27:48):
you're looking at all these andyou're like, well, I kind of
remember how they went together,but let me create something
new.
And so I think being able toembrace that regardless of where
we are in life is so importantbecause we don't need to have,
and this is where I sort ofwhere I started the whole
episode.
There's always someone betteroff and worse off than you are.
(28:09):
So we don't always need thesehuge things.
It was almost again like lifewas like, okay, I smacked you on
one side of the head.
Let me smack you on the otherside now with cancer, right?
I needed to be really ended andreawakened.
Yeah.
When when you can, there'severy argument to say, okay, I
think that you've been awakened.
But I think, you know, beingable to live that each day
(28:32):
before you have to is really akey, but we struggle so much
with it.
Shannon (28:38):
I think it's hard for us to see ourselves clearly.
I think we I think we spend alot of time with the ins and
outs of how we look and who weare, and not just being present
with the the beauty of who weare.
And if we can do that more andmore, that's the kindness we can
show to ourselves.
And that makes us to me, itmakes me a better person.
And I hope it helps otherslearn how to see themselves more
(29:01):
clearly and and not try to sortit all out.
Yeah.
Mary (29:04):
Yeah.
Shannon (29:05):
It's okay not to know.
Mary (29:07):
Yeah, because we can't.
I mean, I think that's thething.
It's it's just sort of owningthat.
So I want to talk in a minutemore about what people can get
from your book and what you whatyou shared in there.
Um, but how are you today?
Like, are you still doingdesign work?
What are you what is part ofyour life right now?
Shannon (29:24):
So I'm not doing my interior design work.
I I do it, I gift it to anybodywho wants it, honestly, because
I still have it in me and I Iknow that I can look at a space
and make all the decisions, andI still have the capability of
doing what I used to do.
Um, my limitation with shortterm memory is to me a little
too messy at this point to dothe work that I used to do.
(29:48):
And not saying that I couldn'tin my future, but if I if I
needed to, but right now I'mjust focusing still on my self
care, and I've brought this newcareer into my life, and I'm
excited about it, and I know.
That I have so much to sharewith others.
Like that's now my full-timejob is to help others and to
show guidance of how we can takecare of ourselves in a better
(30:12):
way and see ourselves clearerand recover from whatever it is
we've been through.
If we would like to take a stepat a time, we can.
And um yeah.
Mary (30:24):
So remind us the title of your book, a little bit about
what's in it and what otherthings, how do you right now
reach out to help people or howcan they reach you?
Shannon (30:33):
Got it, got it.
So my book is Step into YourMiracle.
And I have a beautiful website,um, step in your miracle.com.
They created this gorgeouswebsite for me.
And there it tells more of mystory, and it also is a place
where you can buy my book.
And you can buy it Amazon andBarnes and Noble, and there's
all kinds of places now you canget it, which is great.
(30:55):
Um, my publicist was phenomenalat getting it, getting it out
in the market the way it'ssupposed to try to be seen a
little bit more.
Um, and so yeah, so please takea peek at my website and take a
peek at my book.
Um we're going into theholidays.
I think it's a great Christmasgift.
You know, um, and so and again,it's helpful, I think, for any
(31:19):
sort of trauma.
And it trauma is a big some forsome people a big word.
And sometimes when I saytrauma, I mean, you know, a
breakup, a um a loss of anysort.
It can be whatever your changesand the thing that's difficult
for you is is to me, hopefully,steps as to how you can get
(31:40):
through it and find your wayout.
That's and that's the that wasalways my goal.
And so that was one of thethings I want to make sure that
people gain from it as well.
Mary (31:50):
I will link everything in the show notes.
So, because I know a lot oftimes people are driving and
they hear it, and they're like,I'm never gonna remember that.
So it'll be that'll all be inthe show notes.
Shannon (31:58):
This has been fabulous.
Mary (32:00):
Um, I could go on and on about all kinds of stuff, but
well, and I can tell, you know,again, if people are not seeing
any of the shorts from thisvideo-wise, hearing what you
went through and seeing you, itseems like a miracle.
And I just appreciate so muchthe grace and the positivity
(32:22):
that you have brought to what'shappened to you and the fact
that you're willing to share itbecause I'm sure there were hard
times.
There have to be.
It's never a linear recoveryfrom anything.
Shannon (32:33):
It's it's not, and there were, and but I share that
all in my book as well.
I was comfortable and wantingto make sure that I spoke
volumes about all the good andbad days and how what I could do
and couldn't do.
And that I think is a is againa part of connecting to others.
Like it's nothing's ever thatclean as you're saying.
(32:53):
Like it's it's it's messy.
And the book, you see themessiness.
Mary (32:58):
Well, yeah.
Yeah.
And again, when you when Ilooked at your pictures and saw
you in the hospital, and then Isaw the really the radiance in
your smile now.
I like especially you werethere was a picture of you
standing with the nurses thatyou know, and first of all,
loved your sweater, but you justlooked so radiant.
(33:20):
And I think I want people torecognize that as low as you
might feel sometimes, thatthere's always a story, there's
always someone that can inspireyou to dig deep.
And it's funny because it's sosimple, but it's not easy.
As with many things, thesimplicity is just try to live
(33:42):
every minute.
That's just not easy.
Shannon (33:45):
It's not.
Yeah.
And and within that, it's it'sthe idea that you know, try not
to control everything.
Like you think you make theright decision and you control
the the the outcome.
Well, sometimes things get alittle messy and you're out, you
don't have control over it.
And that's life too, and thatteaches you and makes you
stronger and uh creates um alife that you couldn't have
(34:09):
imagined for yourself.
Mary (34:11):
Well, and I think for you, the key, and this really is a
key with a lot of things thatyou were willing to pivot
because we can so mourn whatwe've lost.
And you obviously had a careerwhere you did something not only
that you loved, but you weregood at it, doing it in a space
where you probably interactedwith some people's names we
(34:34):
might know, and you you lost me.
You lost.
And so I think there could be apath where someone would have
had what happened to you happento them, and all they want to do
is look at the past andeverything they lost.
And you are looking forward.
That's part of who you are.
You know, as you said, it'slike all of those experiences
(34:55):
are still part of your life, butnow you going in a different
direction and being willing totake a path that you never
imagined, that is really the keyto everything.
Shannon (35:08):
I agree.
Yeah, those are beautiful wordsyou just said.
Mary (35:14):
It's very inspiring.
So, again, I so appreciate youbeing here.
Thank you for sharing yourstory.
Thank you for having me.
You're welcome.
Thanks, everybody.
Yeah, and thanks everybody forlistening.
I truly want to hear from you.
So I have an email in my shownotes, NSV Podcast, no shrinking
violets, nsvpodcast atgmail.com to tell me that this
(35:37):
episode or any episode movedyou, or if you want to share a
topic that you would like me tocover in the future.
And until next time, go outinto the world and be the
amazing, resilient, vibrantviolet that you are.
Welcome to No Shrinking Violets.
I'm your host, Mary Rothwell,licensed therapist and certified
integrative mental healthpractitioner.
I've created a space where wecelebrate the intuition and
power of women who want to breakfree from limiting narratives.
We'll explore all realms ofwellness, what it means to take
up space unapologetically, andhow your essential nature is key
(00:28):
to living life on your terms.
It's time to own your space,trust your nature, and flourish.
Let's dive in.
Hey Violets, welcome to theshow.
When I was a kid, my mom wouldoften say, there's always
someone better off and worse offthan you are.
When I was a teenager, I wasonly able to really see the
(00:50):
people that were better off thanme.
As I got older and had less ofthe egocentric worldview of the
young, I started to see morepeople who had been through
really hard things, and it hadthe effect I think my mom
intended.
I more readily recognized notonly my own blessings, but I
appreciated those that weregiven huge challenges and came
(01:10):
through them with strength andresilience.
It seems every day, with theinternet giving us a window into
everything, we see stories ofpeople experiencing
life-changing challenges orgut-wrenching loss.
And I feel pretty sure that Iwould struggle to find the grace
and radical acceptance to moveon that I see in many of these
stories.
(01:30):
My guest today has experiencedher own life-impacting
challenges, yet she is heretoday to tell her story from a
place of purpose, balance, andjoy.
Shannon Michelle was once aleading interior designer in Los
Angeles, but she facedunimaginable challenges after a
near-fatal motorcycle accidentand a battle with breast cancer.
(01:51):
Through faith, resilience, andradical self-discovery, she
rebuilt her life and now helpsothers do the same through her
book, Step Into Your Miracle,and her patchwork self-care
practice.
Welcome to No Shrinking VioletShannon.
Hi.
Hello, everybody.
It's so good to have you heretoday.
Shannon (02:13):
Thank you.
And I I love every moment ofthis new world I live in, you
know.
So thank you for having me.
And um yes.
Mary (02:23):
Sure.
And we're gonna learn aboutthat world.
So, you know, I think thatoften when we have big things
happen, and you certainly hadbig things happen, we can tend
to see life in the the beforeand the after.
And I think, and we talked alittle before we hit record of
how merging them can sometimesbe a challenge.
(02:44):
So, what can you tell us aboutyour life before the motorcycle
accident and share a little bithow that event happened?
Okay.
Shannon (02:55):
Uh so as you said, I was a very high-end interior
designer here in Los Angeles.
I ran my own company for 25plus years.
I had furniture stores back inthe day when that was a thing.
And um and I had an amazingcareer uh doing something that I
felt very comfortable in and Iwas very good at, and I I loved
(03:17):
the process of.
Um, and so that was what I didbefore.
And then I and my daughter, Ihave a daughter, she's uh now
22, and she had just left forcollege.
And I was feeling this freedomof just taking care of doing my
self-care instead of you knowdoing the mommy care.
(03:39):
And I was I loved being a mom,but I realized that I put a lot
of energy into just doing that.
So once she went off tocollege, I kind of like, oh,
house to myself.
And and so one of the thingsthat I had done for about five
years is I rode motorcycles witha group, mostly women riders,
but it was a group and men andwomen.
(04:01):
And I, it was my Sunday school.
I went um on Sundays and Iwould ride and we would do
distance riding.
And I was on my way back fromone of those rides, and I had uh
separated myself from my group.
And um somebody did an illegalU-turn in PCH, Pacific Coast
Highway, and they threw me up inthe air from what I've been
(04:22):
told, 30 to 40 feet, because Idon't have any memory of this,
thankfully.
Traumatic brain injuries havepluses and minus.
Um, and so um threw me up inthe air, landed back.
There happened to be an EMT onthe beach that ran up and did
his moments of saving my life.
(04:43):
There was a car that saw thishappen, that he was a motorcycle
rider that stopped everybodyfrom rolling over me.
I mean, layers and layers ofgifts in the fact that I'm even
sitting here today.
Um, so they drop shipped meinto UCLA and they kept me in a
coma for a few months becausethe brain trauma was so severe.
Also, every part of my body wasbroken, not just the obvious
(05:05):
eye, but my brain, both mywrists, my hips, they put new
hips in, you name it.
It's it's been adjusted on thisperson.
Um, and then um so I was in thehospital for about three
months, and then they brought mehome.
And um and it's been a slow andsteady day-to-day moment of
(05:26):
recovery because they wouldn'tlet me walk because I because
they they didn't they didn'thave any idea what if I was
gonna look out a window for therest of my life, if I was gonna
be able to walk, you name it.
They were everybody wondered.
Um, but slowly, and I just keptkind of waking up each morning
morning and being like, Okay,okay, and and then I would do
(05:50):
whatever it took in that day toget through the day.
And how I could, and that wentfrom learning to walk myself
again and you name it, likelearn to go to the bathroom by
myself, take a shower, likeeverything had been stolen from
me in a way, not stolen, buttaken and um deleted because my
(06:11):
brain memory also had beendeleted from the brain trauma.
And when I woke up, I did notknow where I was, I did not
understand anything.
And so I had to rebuild mybrain capacity as well as my
body usage and my like to thepoint where I didn't even know
what a cell phone was or mycomputer, like major deletes.
(06:33):
Um, and I had to really relearnand regrow how to do all of
that again as well.
Mary (06:39):
Yeah.
My gosh.
And so most people will be justlistening to this.
So I'll tell you that Shannonis wearing an eye patch with,
and I don't have my glasses on,so I think it's a heart, right?
Shannon (06:52):
It is, it's my it's my logo.
It's a lavender heart and it'swinking at you.
And um, it's this of thedesigner in me when all of this
uh, you know, new life that I'mnew career, all of that.
I'm like, I want things to lookpretty.
So when I put I have to wear myeye patch every day to not have
(07:13):
the double vision because therewas a severe all kinds of words
I can put around it, butbasically it gives me double
vision.
And so the eye patch is whatallows me to, you know, uh depth
perception and space and youknow, all of the things that
you're you don't realize whenyou have two eyes how much they
(07:34):
both do until you're moving youdown to one working in the right
direction.
So yeah.
Um thank you.
Yes, I love my eye patch.
Mary (07:41):
Yeah.
Well, and I think about thefact that, you know, when things
happen, um huge things happen,it's sometimes as a result of
someone else's actions.
Was that part of your healingto have to accept that?
Shannon (07:59):
I think yes.
I believe that my healing hadto do with the concept that I
couldn't control things anymore.
And that was huge because I hadled my whole life, including
riding motorcycles, is I've gotcontrol, I can do this mind
frame.
And I woke up not being able todo anything and having depend
(08:24):
depend on everybody, and that'snot a fun feeling.
Um, and so yeah, I I had tofind a way to find almost
kindness with myself with askingfor so much help because I it
was hard again.
At first I just felt so guiltythat I was putting all these
people through this.
And I was like, Oh, Shannon,remember what you're going
(08:47):
through too.
And that's what we have toremember is that self-care is
like whatever we're goingthrough, we need to do our
self-care first.
Because as um an amazingtherapist in my recovery said to
me, Shannon, don't worry aboutwhat happened before or what's
going to happen next, but juststay present in this moment.
Talk to me in this moment.
(09:08):
And I kept that with me.
And I had to keep remindingmyself that anytime something
felt uncomfortable or off or sador even happy, like you you to
stay present in that moment andthat be your day and that be
your minute.
And and that is that gave mefreedom to wake up in pain, to
(09:29):
wake up not knowing, and to knowthat I can try this day today.
And then I could, if I don't doit so well, I'll try it again
tomorrow.
And giving myself the space todo that as well, I think that's
important anybody's life, isthat you give yourself the
freedom and the space to be thebest you can be today, and not
yesterday's Shannon, nottomorrow Shannon, but today's
(09:52):
Shannon.
And that's you know, that takesa lot of um again, self-care
for me.
It has.
Mary (09:58):
Oh, for sure.
And you know, you had torecover from not just physical
injuries, but the emotionalinjuries.
And how long did it take you toget your memory back?
And did that include forgettingpeople in your life?
Shannon (10:13):
Oh, yeah.
Mary (10:14):
Oh, wow.
Shannon (10:15):
Yeah.
It was, it was, it basicallyhad deleted a lot.
But as my neurologist told me,Shannon, it's all still in
there.
Just keep, just keep creatingthe new pathways in your brain
because the brain trauma twistedthings up a bit.
But he's like, just know it'sstill in there.
And I and I just remember, yes,I remember um a little bit of
(10:37):
the nursing hospital moments.
And um, that's when I startedto have some memory coming back,
like that, like recognizing theone person supposedly that they
told me I never forgot was mydaughter, which of course is the
most beautiful thing you wantto hear.
I don't you don't want toforget the the the your your
your um your heart.
(10:59):
Your heart yeah, that's a goodway to put it.
Um and so yeah, and I had youknow handfuls of friends, you
know, coming to visit me and I'dsmile and and say hello, and
they would think that I wouldrecognize them, but I don't
remember them, or I would askthem to touch my hand because
that felt like a connection,like, oh, I kind of remember
(11:22):
you.
Tell me your name again.
You know, and I knew you for 25years.
Tell me your name again.
It got it was a little messy.
Um, and that that has fadedaway mostly.
Um now I just deal with theshort-term memory limitations,
which is you know, a lot ofpeople in their lives, whether
it be from a traumatic braininjury, but there's all kinds of
(11:43):
you know moments that happen tous physically and mentally,
where things can be moredifficult to think, more
difficult to even age, you know,we all I'm I'm now 56, like uh,
you know, people say to me,Well, you know, your age, I'm
like, yeah, no, I I I know it'smy age too, but um, but I've
(12:05):
learned how to track things, howto when I know something's
super important and I don't wantto forget, I have these ABCs
that I do to not forget.
And that's hard to do when yourun a corporation and have a ton
of employees and you think thatand you I had no issue
remembering anything previous tomy accident.
Like even in the interiordesign world that I was in, I
(12:28):
would walk into a space and itwould just, it would, it'd be
like a picture of my brain, andI'd move it around and the
picture is still there.
And I would, I would just beable to do my work months later,
years later from from havingthat visual moment.
And um, that was that was animportant part, I think, of my
my personal recovery because Iwhen I looked at images of
(12:51):
somebody, I'd be like, oh yeah,I remember you.
Oh, that's a trip we took.
Or, you know, and again, Ithink visual is a strong place
to start with brain, any kind ofbrain difficulties.
unknown (13:03):
Yeah.
Mary (13:04):
Well, you mentioned the people visiting you.
And when I looked at yourwebsite, you have pictures of
yourself in the hospital.
But the one thing that I reallynoticed was you had a wall of
all kinds of pictures andsomeone, oh, I'm trying to think
of the quote now.
Oh, I can't think of the quote.
Darn it.
Um, but somebody had writtensomething, and but when I saw
(13:27):
that, I was like, wow.
And I think you were not evenaware yet that it was there, but
I'm wondering how much of thoseconnections and relationships,
how important were all of thosethings in helping you to heal?
Shannon (13:43):
Um, so important.
So important to be, even whenyou can't see yourself to be
seen, I think is reallyimportant.
And I know that with thesupport and the love that
everybody gave me in in such aconstant way, it gave me hope
that I was somebody worthtalking to, hope that I was
(14:06):
somebody, you know, worthrepairing.
Like it reminded me who I was,even though I couldn't remember
who I was, it reminded me who Iwas.
And and that was super helpfulfor me.
Um they and the and theirpatience, you know, some some
people didn't have as muchpatience as others and have not
stayed in my life, and that'sokay too.
(14:28):
Um, but the patience thatsomebody can have for your
changes and your difficulties isto me the strength within a
friendship or a relationship ofany sort.
Like the people who truly stuckaround past my hospital stay,
(14:51):
past my, you know, being able towalk again, those people, they
haven't gone anywhere.
They're accepting the new methe way I come.
And they see, they see theconsistency of the old me in
there, but they really have thiskindness about this new me,
because that's it's a new friendthat they're meeting that
they're meeting as well,especially some of my best
friends.
(15:11):
Like those were some, I'm Iknow for them, some very
difficult times to see somebodythat you care for so much in so
much pain and in so muchanguish.
And then you keep showing upfor them in a way that allows
them to see themselves againbecause that connection again.
(15:31):
It's it's a beautiful thing.
It and it was.
Um Yeah, and I'm not sure ifthere's any more explanation
outside of that, but it wasimportant.
Mary (15:44):
Yeah.
Well, and I think what struckme was knowing that you couldn't
see those pictures yet.
And they were they uh seemed tobe pictures of you with
important people in your life orat in important times of your
life.
What struck me was the faithpeople had in your recovery by
putting pictures up that youcouldn't even see to create that
feeling and that positivity wasthat was amazing for me to see
(16:08):
that.
Shannon (16:10):
And it was, it was also what I think what I've been
told as well, it was soinspiring for the nurses and the
doctors because they're inthere every day dealing with
these, let's just say, verybroken people in different ways.
And to to be able to kind ofget a visualization of who
they're supporting and whothey're helping, I think helps
(16:30):
them as well.
It connects them and it ithelped them realize who was
lying in that bed that was in acoma that they don't know, you
know.
And I think again, um, theimages help the connections for
everybody.
Um, and and oh, I don'tremember any of them.
I've seen pictures, I mean,I've seen plenty of of images,
(16:51):
um, but I don't remember thosebeing there.
But I know that even again,somebody that walked in the door
to like hold my hand while Iwas in a coma was there and it
they had something interestingother than to other than just me
and my coma to look at.
They had, you know, my travels,my this, my that.
And, you know, it kept themcapable of seeing something
(17:15):
other than just the hospitalbed, you know, and and the and
the broken me.
Because it was, again, it wasif if if you look at my book at
the back, there's some verysignificant photos back there
when I was, you know, everythingwas tied up, looped up at the
hospital.
And um it was it was a lot.
(17:36):
And it and it it also inspiresme because when I look back at
that, even though I don'tremember it, it reminds me of
all my progress.
So sometimes it's just seeingyour progress, and I have to be
reminded about okay, Shannon, bekinder to yourself.
Look all that you've done somany baby steps to get here, and
then remember where you were,buddy.
Yeah.
Mary (17:58):
So do you still have residual pain?
Are there things you still haveto deal with pain-wise?
Shannon (18:04):
Yeah, I do.
Um, so from not from what I canremember, but from my body
pain, my I think I fell all onmy right side.
And I still have um, I do mygentle yoga is to get, you know,
I took it took a few surgeriesand um it's still I can still
feel because they they neverthought this would work, but I
(18:25):
can still feel um a little bitof pain in my wrist, in this one
specifically, in my ankle andin my knee.
And it's not anywhere as closeas what it used to.
It's like the pain keptlightening, like it went from
like 80% pain to, you know, nowI'm at like 10% pain in certain
areas of my body.
But it it that doesn't go away,at least for me at this point.
(18:47):
And I keep working on doing mygentle yoga classes and taking
my walks and building strengthagain because being put in that
three months, no more than threemonths of not being able to do
to move anything, do anything,and then all your muscles like,
you know, come down to nothing.
Um, and so to rebuild that andto continue to rebuild it.
And I even have moments whereI'm like, oh, yeah, you use your
(19:10):
right side, your left side alittle bit more than your right
still.
So there's a balance issue thatI'm working on now because I
used the one side so much in myrecovery that now my body and my
brain is not, it doesn'tremember to use both sides.
It's like you got to balancethat out.
Um yeah.
And so it's still it's and thenthe eye.
(19:32):
Um I've I've had one surgery umand they've kind of pulled it
over as far as they could.
So it's a little better place,but I still have double vision
because I have, you know, I haveto sit in a circle certain
angle not to see double vision.
Um, and with my brain recovery,I kind of put my eye on the
back burner because I justwanted to keep building my
(19:54):
brain.
Yeah.
And so covering my eye, and Idid, you know, I I've done the
baby steps of trying to get morestrength back, but I'm I'm now
becoming comfortable with I'm aneye patch girl.
Mary (20:05):
Well, and you're owning it, right?
You it's you're signature, yoursignature patch now.
Shannon (20:10):
Yeah, I am, I am.
And I and I love it.
It's it is the new me.
It and I always say to people,it's like my new pair of shoes.
I have to like what I see whenI look down at my shoes, and
when I look at my eye patch,like I I that's something that I
visually like to like when Ilook in the mirror.
And it took me quite a while toget comfortable.
And I think we all get thisway, whether it be post-having a
(20:32):
baby or you know, age orwhatever, things change and you
have to get comfortable with thechanges.
And that to me is a part of whyI wanted to share on both sides
what somebody would be goingthrough or could be going
through, and how people can helpothers through trauma is the
main reason why I think that thebook is is going to help
(20:58):
others.
My book is going to help othersis to see how they can step
into their miracle.
Um, because sometimes we get alittle lost and we need to walk
down the roads in our life alittle differently.
You know?
Mary (21:12):
Yeah.
Well, and the one thing struckme that you said, because I hear
this often, that there arepeople who stuck around and
there are people that fell away.
And that seems to be a themeoften when we go through
something really hard and werealize I need to stand in the
present.
I need to just try to be thebest person I can.
And there's no more timeanymore or energy or space to
(21:38):
allow something that maybedoesn't feel congruent.
And so I'm just curious thatthe people that are no longer in
your life, are you surprisedabout who they ended up being?
Shannon (21:52):
I think mostly no.
I have one specific friend thatI miss a lot that I used to
ride with.
And it's not like she'scompletely gone out of my life,
but she has faded away quite abit.
And I miss her.
And I I'm still trying to nottake it personally.
And that's the best thing todo.
(22:14):
And I don't, I really don'tanymore, but it still makes me
sad that she's not a part of mymy weekly life, you know.
And that's probably that that'sone of the harder ones.
Um, but I also understand it.
I mean, we used to ride everySunday together, and I think
there's a level of confrontingsomething that you don't want to
(22:35):
have happen to you in a way.
Um, there has to be some sorrowthat comes from her when she
looks at me now because it'ssomething that she still loves
and does.
And there's, you know, it'sit's it's trying to put yourself
and surround yourself withpeople that are kind of more
balanced with where you are inlife.
(22:56):
And we're a little out ofbalance now.
I don't know how long that willbe.
It might be for the rest of mylife.
I don't know, but we'll see.
We'll see how.
Mary (23:05):
Well, you mentioned again before I hit record, you talked
about Shannon 2.0.
So I'm curious what isdifferent?
What do you feel like yourstrengths are now that you may
not have even realized pre- somany.
Shannon (23:19):
Yeah.
So many.
Um, so yes, I had to comearound to the place where I try
I had to mentally understandthat I was rebirthed in a way.
And the Shannon 1.0 was verydifferent than the Shannon 2.0.
And the Shannon 2.0 learned howto be vulnerable and not make
(23:43):
it in her own mind think it'sneedy.
Because I think I was veryafraid of being too vulnerable
because I thought it would bebroken in other ways otherwise.
And so I, you know, I would Iwould do my best at caring for
others, but my self-care waskind of second tier.
And that doesn't help anybodybecause if you're not taking
(24:06):
care of yourself as much as youpossibly can, how can you, how
can you help care for others?
And so I think that was thebiggest lesson is to be
vulnerable and to ask for helpum empowered me to get better.
And if you would have askedShannon 1.0, that that would not
have been what she would havesaid.
(24:26):
So living present in a presentmoment is empowering as well.
I say that to many people andthe words sound familiar, but I
think when people try to live ineach moment and not toast
what's happened, it's hard todo.
Yeah.
You know, and I'd say that ifyou can find strength in each
(24:48):
moment when you're feelingsorrow about anything or
something means seems to bedifficult, I came up with a very
simple because brain recovery,yes, no, and maybe.
And I would be, I'd answermyself, is this the right thing
to do?
Yes, no, or maybe.
Yes is yes, no is no, and maybealways was not.
(25:09):
Let's put that, let's put thataside for now.
It can come back later.
And it's okay for it to be amaybe and uh it and it to be
asked again later, but not notat this moment.
You don't have an answer thismoment, that's okay too.
And I kept having to remindmyself it's okay not to have an
answer.
So the yes, no, maybe was washuge as well in my recovery, and
(25:30):
it still is.
I, you know, I'm relearning tolive with my daughter.
Um, she's graduated fromcollege, which is a beautiful
thing, but you know, I'mlearning the ins and outs of
having an adult in my house.
Yeah.
You know.
Um, and so yeah, I'd say thatthere have been many gains.
There were plenty of losses.
(25:51):
It's not like it's beendifficult.
And I don't know if we talkedabout this, but a year and a
half after my accident, and thisis something I sometimes forget
and I can't, is I was diagnosedwith breast cancer.
Mary (26:02):
Yes, that that was I was get I was getting.
We did it, we did not even,it's like the I for I think it's
called a bobo doll where youpunch it and it goes back and
comes back up.
I feel like that was you, likeokay, now this on top of, yeah,
on top of everything else.
Shannon (26:18):
And when it happened, I remember getting the call and
laughing and thinking it wasfunny because I thought I had
been through so much.
If my life was gonna be taken,it would have been taken.
And I I personally had to learnthat no matter what happens to
us, that doesn't mean moretrauma can't.
So don't try to compare whereyou sit today with where you can
(26:41):
be tomorrow.
Just sit with today.
And I'm gonna do the best at mycancer today, or I'm gonna do
the best at my brain today.
And know that there's not anebb and flow with traumatic
things happening.
They can come after moretrauma.
So until you can stay presentin the moment and not sit and
worry, then you know, that'sstrength that you can build.
Mary (27:05):
And I think we like to know what's happening or we like
to have an answer.
We like things to be black andwhite.
So when you add the maybe inthere, that's important because
your entire life for that timewas uncertainty.
And when you talk about beingpresent, typically it's the lack
of certainty that most peoplehave trouble with because when
(27:25):
we're in that liminal space,when we don't know like what is
gonna happen, and for you, it'spretty much your life
deconstructed itself to thepoint that you could not
remember important parts of itand you had to reconstruct it.
And I think I think about youknow, you have this elaborate
life of Legos, and someone takesit apart, and the next morning
(27:48):
you're looking at all these andyou're like, well, I kind of
remember how they went together,but let me create something
new.
And so I think being able toembrace that regardless of where
we are in life is so importantbecause we don't need to have,
and this is where I sort ofwhere I started the whole
episode.
There's always someone betteroff and worse off than you are.
(28:09):
So we don't always need thesehuge things.
It was almost again like lifewas like, okay, I smacked you on
one side of the head.
Let me smack you on the otherside now with cancer, right?
I needed to be really ended andreawakened.
Yeah.
When when you can, there'severy argument to say, okay, I
think that you've been awakened.
But I think, you know, beingable to live that each day
(28:32):
before you have to is really akey, but we struggle so much
with it.
Shannon (28:38):
I think it's hard for us to see ourselves clearly.
I think we I think we spend alot of time with the ins and
outs of how we look and who weare, and not just being present
with the the beauty of who weare.
And if we can do that more andmore, that's the kindness we can
show to ourselves.
And that makes us to me, itmakes me a better person.
And I hope it helps otherslearn how to see themselves more
(29:01):
clearly and and not try to sortit all out.
Yeah.
Mary (29:04):
Yeah.
Shannon (29:05):
It's okay not to know.
Mary (29:07):
Yeah, because we can't.
I mean, I think that's thething.
It's it's just sort of owningthat.
So I want to talk in a minutemore about what people can get
from your book and what you whatyou shared in there.
Um, but how are you today?
Like, are you still doingdesign work?
What are you what is part ofyour life right now?
Shannon (29:24):
So I'm not doing my interior design work.
I I do it, I gift it to anybodywho wants it, honestly, because
I still have it in me and I Iknow that I can look at a space
and make all the decisions, andI still have the capability of
doing what I used to do.
Um, my limitation with shortterm memory is to me a little
too messy at this point to dothe work that I used to do.
(29:48):
And not saying that I couldn'tin my future, but if I if I
needed to, but right now I'mjust focusing still on my self
care, and I've brought this newcareer into my life, and I'm
excited about it, and I know.
That I have so much to sharewith others.
Like that's now my full-timejob is to help others and to
show guidance of how we can takecare of ourselves in a better
(30:12):
way and see ourselves clearerand recover from whatever it is
we've been through.
If we would like to take a stepat a time, we can.
And um yeah.
Mary (30:24):
So remind us the title of your book, a little bit about
what's in it and what otherthings, how do you right now
reach out to help people or howcan they reach you?
Shannon (30:33):
Got it, got it.
So my book is Step into YourMiracle.
And I have a beautiful website,um, step in your miracle.com.
They created this gorgeouswebsite for me.
And there it tells more of mystory, and it also is a place
where you can buy my book.
And you can buy it Amazon andBarnes and Noble, and there's
all kinds of places now you canget it, which is great.
(30:55):
Um, my publicist was phenomenalat getting it, getting it out
in the market the way it'ssupposed to try to be seen a
little bit more.
Um, and so yeah, so please takea peek at my website and take a
peek at my book.
Um we're going into theholidays.
I think it's a great Christmasgift.
You know, um, and so and again,it's helpful, I think, for any
(31:19):
sort of trauma.
And it trauma is a big some forsome people a big word.
And sometimes when I saytrauma, I mean, you know, a
breakup, a um a loss of anysort.
It can be whatever your changesand the thing that's difficult
for you is is to me, hopefully,steps as to how you can get
(31:40):
through it and find your wayout.
That's and that's the that wasalways my goal.
And so that was one of thethings I want to make sure that
people gain from it as well.
Mary (31:50):
I will link everything in the show notes.
So, because I know a lot oftimes people are driving and
they hear it, and they're like,I'm never gonna remember that.
So it'll be that'll all be inthe show notes.
Shannon (31:58):
This has been fabulous.
Mary (32:00):
Um, I could go on and on about all kinds of stuff, but
well, and I can tell, you know,again, if people are not seeing
any of the shorts from thisvideo-wise, hearing what you
went through and seeing you, itseems like a miracle.
And I just appreciate so muchthe grace and the positivity
(32:22):
that you have brought to what'shappened to you and the fact
that you're willing to share itbecause I'm sure there were hard
times.
There have to be.
It's never a linear recoveryfrom anything.
Shannon (32:33):
It's it's not, and there were, and but I share that
all in my book as well.
I was comfortable and wantingto make sure that I spoke
volumes about all the good andbad days and how what I could do
and couldn't do.
And that I think is a is againa part of connecting to others.
Like it's nothing's ever thatclean as you're saying.
(32:53):
Like it's it's it's messy.
And the book, you see themessiness.
Mary (32:58):
Well, yeah.
Yeah.
And again, when you when Ilooked at your pictures and saw
you in the hospital, and then Isaw the really the radiance in
your smile now.
I like especially you werethere was a picture of you
standing with the nurses thatyou know, and first of all,
loved your sweater, but you justlooked so radiant.
(33:20):
And I think I want people torecognize that as low as you
might feel sometimes, thatthere's always a story, there's
always someone that can inspireyou to dig deep.
And it's funny because it's sosimple, but it's not easy.
As with many things, thesimplicity is just try to live
(33:42):
every minute.
That's just not easy.
Shannon (33:45):
It's not.
Yeah.
And and within that, it's it'sthe idea that you know, try not
to control everything.
Like you think you make theright decision and you control
the the the outcome.
Well, sometimes things get alittle messy and you're out, you
don't have control over it.
And that's life too, and thatteaches you and makes you
stronger and uh creates um alife that you couldn't have
(34:09):
imagined for yourself.
Mary (34:11):
Well, and I think for you, the key, and this really is a
key with a lot of things thatyou were willing to pivot
because we can so mourn whatwe've lost.
And you obviously had a careerwhere you did something not only
that you loved, but you weregood at it, doing it in a space
where you probably interactedwith some people's names we
(34:34):
might know, and you you lost me.
You lost.
And so I think there could be apath where someone would have
had what happened to you happento them, and all they want to do
is look at the past andeverything they lost.
And you are looking forward.
That's part of who you are.
You know, as you said, it'slike all of those experiences
(34:55):
are still part of your life, butnow you going in a different
direction and being willing totake a path that you never
imagined, that is really the keyto everything.
Shannon (35:08):
I agree.
Yeah, those are beautiful wordsyou just said.
Mary (35:14):
It's very inspiring.
So, again, I so appreciate youbeing here.
Thank you for sharing yourstory.
Thank you for having me.
You're welcome.
Thanks, everybody.
Yeah, and thanks everybody forlistening.
I truly want to hear from you.
So I have an email in my shownotes, NSV Podcast, no shrinking
violets, nsvpodcast atgmail.com to tell me that this
(35:37):
episode or any episode movedyou, or if you want to share a
topic that you would like me tocover in the future.
And until next time, go outinto the world and be the
amazing, resilient, vibrantviolet that you are.
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