Hello and happy Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month 2023! I can’t believe it 2 months since I’ve posted a blog! Recently, life has got pretty hectic therefore, I have a lot of goals I need to set. Goal setting works for me.
Yet, I realised most of my goals were about work which are needed and will make an appearance in this blog. However, not everything is about work. I do have a few more personal occupations I want to work on such as driving. So, today’s purpose is to start with a general overview as well as raising the profile for CP Awareness Month of course! Then we can delve into some of the occupations that I need to give more time to in future posts.
A– Activism: I feel like in a bit of a contradiction that activism is the first occupation. I just couldn’t leave it out, I love creating waves!
B– Boogieing: I love a good boogie. A good night out is up my street, yet sometimes doing this in the kitchen is just as fun!
C– Cooking: We’ve invested in an air fryer and, oh my, I can do my croissants (the microwave isn’t the same for me, personally) and I can even do a fried egg!! That’s something that is a no-go in the pan! I cannot wait to do more exploring! I can feel another blog coming…
D– Driving: Yes – spare me the lecture, I know I sound like a broken record and part of this is just needing to pull up my big girl pants. Yet between, feeling fatigued after work and not being able to get my wheelchair in and out of the car independently it’s a whole drama. A drama that will certainly be making another appearance on the blog.
E– Eating: I guess it goes back to cooking. But I’m a big foodie regardless and always hungry because of using so many spoons!!
F– Family time: I’m very lucky to be so close to my family and do a lot with them. But even the nights in are just as fun. After a busy week it’s so good to relax. Although I intend to be back boogieing on Saturday nights very soon!
G– Gigs: Speaking of music I LOVE gigs, I’m so excited to be heading to Tramlines again this year!
H– Having me time: I’m quite busy at the minute and me time is becoming less frequent. Yet, I am making more of an effort to whine down before bed even if this means going a bit later than planned to restore my occupational balance.
I– Investigating: This covers a variety of occupations – I need to step out of my comfort zone. For example, around the house, I want to work on things like cooking as said all in preparation for leaving home!
J– Jaunt: Okay, so I googled a fancy word for adventure. I’m very fortunate to have been abroad a lot. However, I’ve never had a big adventure holiday and have never left Europe and I am so ready to take on the world! Yes, this is very ambitious and will certainly not happen anytime soon, but a girl can dream. Going on slightly different adventures in the UK even would be awesome too!
K– Kind-hearted: I want to make sure that I don’t get ahead of myself with these goals and always show my support for those around me. I’ll certainly need companions to help me complete my occupational goals. Therefore, those around me might want me to help them with their goals too!
L– Laughing: I love a good joke or laugh and don’t take myself too seriously. I intend to draw upon my light-hearted spirit in stressful times!
M– Music: As much as I love listening to music I also love playing music and playing the piano. Yet, due to the fast-paced lifestyle, I have found myself in I’ve lost touch (literally) with the piano. But, I want to find my state of flow when playing the piano!
N– Networking: I love meeting new people! I have Naidex coming up soon and I am super excited because it’s one of the biggest disability conferences in Europe. It’s my first non-predominant occupational therapy conference, so I am looking forward to meeting new people from the disabled community!
O– Occupational balance: This one is so important. Even my leisure occupations don’t necessarily have to require a high level of skill. Watching a good or even not-so-good series helps again to whine down!
P– Physiotherapy: Them bubble baths aren’t just for me time. My pain levels are higher than normal and have been gradually on the increase for a while. I’m proud that I finally said no to my internalised ableism and went to my GP to get a physiotherapy referral!
Q– Questioning myself: Since writing the book I have started to question my activism a lot more. Asking myself questions such as how I can make my activism more tangible? I want to continue questioning my practice to keep improving.
R– Reading: Last year I put together a huge reading list of books I want to read and I didn’t tick many off due to getting sidetracked or just picking up a few spontaneous finds within books shops. I am looking forward to getting my head in a few books when my manuscript is submitted.
S– Socialising: I love socialising with friends and family!
T– Theatre: Love, love, love theatre – I would spend every weekend there if I could. I am fortunate enough to have a few shows booked this year and I cannot wait.
U– Using my time wisely: I’m normally a very organised person yet lately with all my deadlines organising my time and fitting this around energy levels has been very hard. I want to try and manage this better, and at times I need to prioritise myself over work.
V– Venturing: I’m seeking adventure! I’ve never got the train alone before and this is certainly something I want to achieve this year.
W- Writing: I still have a lot of writing to get done for the book and in all honesty, probably shouldn’t be writing this blog right now. But, it is so nice to do a fun post like this and take my analytical lens off for a bit.
X- eXciting projects: Okay, I slightly cheated! Yet, I do have some very exciting projects lined up this year and I am so grateful to be in this privileged position.
Y– Yaking: As mentioned I love a good chit-chat, in fact, a goal should probably be to yak less, but that will never happen!
Z– Zzzz, Sleeping: To keep afloat I will certainly need sleep as I have a lot of goals that are tiring for anyone, never mind adding a chronic illness into this. I will certainly be making the most of laying in when I can.
So, that’s how I manage some of my occupations with cerebral palsy. I certainly haven’t masted the skill of managing all these. Do you have any tips?
Thank you for reading,
Georgia x
