Freshly pressed or freshly stressed?

Taken from the WordPress home page

There are many different reasons that people start writing a blog. Some people just do it for a bit of a creative outlet – maybe to showcase their hobbies and talents (like maybe a fashion, a photography or art blog).

Some people love to tell stories or write poetry, some people are wannabe writers and use their blog as a platform to promote their work hoping for that all exclusive book deal.

And then there are people like me who just write because they find it to be an extremely valuable therapy tool. (That and the fact that raising awareness for autism is one of my passions and I dream that one day people will not just listen but ‘really listen’ and makes changes for a more accepting society).

Recognition is a great thing, but for me – it’s not essential. I sometimes post my blogs to my personal FB page but I deliberately haven’t signed up anywhere to promote my blog to gain more traffic. And the only reason I created a Facebook page for Wonderfully Wired was so that I could have a dedicated place to write about all things autism and give my real life friends a break from constantly having our struggles and triumphs plastered all over their news feeds.

See… I’m considerate like that

I find that writing out my thoughts helps me to properly filter them, centre myself better and focus more clearly. And it also causes me to own and address any wayward emotions that I may have wrongly attached to a particularly difficult situation that I may be going through at any given time.

It really is therapeutic. And if what I write about just happens to help another family going through similar struggles: well it’s a win-win as far as I’m concerned.

Of course there are definitely pros and cons of putting your family’s highs and lows on display so publicly, but I also feel very strongly about creating positive awareness for autism. And to do that – you have to be real or people see through it pretty quickly.

I wrote my post OCD OMG! on Tuesday with a very heavy heart. I was desperate to be heard and felt like I was running out of options. I had hit an emotional brick wall and felt the fight slowly start to drain out of me ,so I wrote about it. As you do when you’re me.

And the response that I got from it was overwhelming to say the least. Not so much from comments on the actual blog post, but by messages sent through Facebook, personal emails, text messages, phone calls and visits. People seemed to come from all directions offering me everything from meals delivered and cyber hugs through to therapist and Doctor’s details and offers to attend appointments with me.

To say I was touched is a gross understatement. To all of you – (you know who you are) …I want to say a huge heartfelt thank you.

Which leads me to my point.

I have a hope that through sharing our story, other families will feel less isolated. Other families will feel less overwhelmed and misunderstood and maybe they will motivated to find the help that they need.

So when I received an email from the WordPress Editors last night informing me that my OCD post is going to be Freshly Pressed in the next few days, I burst into tears.

Not tears of joy at first. I wasn’t exactly elated that I had this prestigious honour bestowed upon me, because it was one of my family’s lowest day so far that is going to be showcased.

I started thinking about all the light-hearted and amusing posts that I had written and wondered why they’d all been bypassed? And why they hadn’t chosen one of the pieces that I have written before that I was particularly proud of?

But the editor wrote these words to me:
…..we really enjoyed it (as much as one can enjoy reading a heartbreaking story) and we know the rest of the WordPress community will too – I know there will be many parents who can relate to your story…..

And with that in mind – I’ve decided to go ahead and let them publish it in the hope that another parent or family can read this and know that they are not alone.

We are all in this together after all

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