The Adapted Life
Welcome to The Adapted Life Podcast, a dedicated space for those who have faced profound challenges, particularly those who have navigated the journey of having a child born with severe disabilities. This podcast serves as a sanctuary for connection, offering support and strategies for building resilience when life unfolds differently than we envisioned.
In this series, I share my personal journey with my disabled son, detailing the ups and downs we experienced together. Our story is one of love, hardship, and ultimately, adaptation. But now, my focus has shifted to the complex and often lonely path of adapting to life after the loss of my son.
Grief is a powerful, consuming force that changes everything. It can feel isolating and overwhelming, reshaping how we perceive the world around us. Through this podcast, I hope to explore what it means to grieve, to honor the memory of my son, and to find ways to move forward while carrying his spirit with me.
We'll discuss practical approaches to adapting to loss, including how to find joy in small moments, the importance of community support, and strategies for navigating everyday life when the ground beneath you has shifted. This journey is deeply personal, yet universal in its themes of love, loss, and resilience.
Join me as we create a conversation around grief and adaptation, turning our experiences into pathways for healing and connection. Every story shared strengthens our community and reminds us that while loss is an inevitable part of life, we have the capacity to adapt and find new meanings, even amidst heartache.
The Adapted Life
Tilted. A reaction to expanded family caregiving.
In this episode I discuss how I experience this "tilt" reaction to having been overwhelmed with a sudden and traumatic need to care for aging family members, on top of my responsibility as a caregiver Mom to my medically complex and disabled adult son. The words "I'm tilted" kept popping into my mind, so I let it be there.
As a 50 something year old, it goes without saying that our elders are aging, and may need our help. In "non" caregiving mode, this is likely to be a bit easier to handle. I guess. But when I am already just too emotionally overwhelmed, and trauma hits, I can get to a point where I just need to shut off for awhile.
So I wanted to share a little bit of my recent experience as becoming a caregiver for more than just my son. While at the onset, it feels like it is just simply too much for me to manage, I am surprised at how much I am learning, and how focusing on letting go of fear has helped.
I don't function at my highest levels when other people vent their stress on me by harsh criticism, venting anger, and pushing me away. So I am always working on boundaries to not let it get to me. Remaining calm. Working on my highest self and what kind of positivity I am bringing into each moment.
We go through different phases and stages in journey as caregivers, and just as we think we are pretty good at everything having to do with our person, we can find ourselves needing to help people outside of that bubble too. There is an "AHHH I CAN'T DO THIS" period where fear sets in and we are too exhausted. So for me, I tend to need to shut down and accept that I can't push myself.
Having had my own long long term trauma from childhood, I've had to really come to terms with the coping strategies that work for me.
I end this talk with a brief little poem from Alex Elle that I saw on the internet.
I'm currently visiting my daughter in California, as I reference in the podcast.
I am blessed and grateful for all that I am, and all that I have coming. Thank you for sharing this journey. This podcast, my YouTube channel and our Etsy art shop (Daniel's Special Art) are my love projects.
Enjoy the episode friends.
Julie
https://www.etsy.com/shop/DanielsSpecialArt?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQr7Ot0J0o6_gRnG_fJvzDg
