Any Ordinary Day: Leigh Sales

A resource from Leigh Sales

Image of Leigh Sales book and how it can help with understanding Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy

Leigh Sales introduces her book by saying “the day that turns life upside down usually starts like any other. You open your eyes, swing your body out of bed, eat breakfast, get dressed and leave the house, your mind busy. As you close the front door behind you, rarely there is a tingle of unease that something is off. Later, when the story of what happened next comes to be told, it will start with the day’s ordinariness, something that will now seem incredible. How could a blindside so momentous have struck on a day that began so unremarkably”.(Sales (2018). Any Ordinary Day. Penguin, p. 1. Random House)

I cannot imagine a statement that captures any better the feeling that crashes in on you when you experience a traumatic event in your life. Everyone says (sometimes quite flippantly) that you have to “make the most of every day” but unless you have actually experienced a life-changing, traumatic event, I don’t think that many people actually can live this statement or at least try to. The feeling of vulnerability is overwhelming and a loss of confidence in life becomes real. How can you plan anything in advance, when you just don’t know what is ahead. Of course no one knows what is ahead for them but no one more than a person for whom Leigh’s words resonate. How can you become excited about planning a holiday, walking your daughter down the aisle in 6 months time, feel confident that you can plan any life events or celebrations in the future.

Many people have serious health and other issues to deal with, and CAA adds an additional layer of uncertainty that can tip the balance between juggling all the balls and keeping them in the air as compared to starting to crumple in the arena.

If this resonates for you, I highly recommend Leigh Sales’ book.

 

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