Shattered Moments: The Fall From My 30-Foot Pedestal

Abstract

Part One of my final project consists of a series of creative non-fiction stories detailing a traumatic accident I experienced in 2009. The stories examine my physical recovery and reflect on my emotional recovery process. I have also written stories about my strongest memories from my childhood as a way to uncover the events that helped shape the 20-year-old girl I was at the time of my accident. The stories are not linear, but span from my childhood to the three years following my accident. Through these stories, I hope to contribute to greater conversations about trauma, emerging adulthood, and identity—particularly among young people. Part Two of the project analyzes the question of trauma and the necessity of narrative following trauma. I break this section of the project into three short essays addressing different aspects of trauma and narrative: a history of trauma, the need for memoir, and posttraumatic growth. I reference three larger works for these essays and relate the arguments and theories the authors make to my own traumatic experience and the process of writing my own stories. In addition to these written parts of my final project, I also include personal photographs throughout the project. These pictures, like my stories, are not linear. They are visual pieces of my shattered life puzzle, showing meme before and after my fall from the 30-foot pedestal I’d created for myself. By connecting these pieces, I was able to find new meaning in my experience, allowing me to move forward in the recovery of my body and mind.