My name is Kathryn Paulson. I am a seven year TBI survivor. In December of 2016, I fell on black ice, fractured my skull and had a subarachnoid hemorrhage on the temporal lobe of my right side. My recovery has included some of the typical therapies, but when I started writing poetry in October of 2020, I began to heal in ways traditional therapy never touched. I feel seen, while regaining an identity as someone other than a person with TBI. Poetry helps me understand myself better and has allowed me to help fellow survivors. My poems have been published in Rattle “Coal Smoke”, TBI Hope and Inspiration “Empty Bottles”, and Poets Choice Zest With Pets edition, “Carry It With You”. Along with the Thursday Night Poets, I have contributed to two chapbooks “I Don’t Think I Did This Right” published in 2022 and “Poetry is Chocolate” published in 2023. We are currently working on our third book. Through the journey of poetry, I have also gained a position at the Brain Injury Alliance of Wisconsin (BIAW) to help with advocacy efforts as well as helping others to tell their own stories about brain injuries.