just to have this out there

a public response to the kind of lowlife who like to criticize who i am and what i've been through instead of what i've written. bottom-dwellers!

I’ll just give it away right here and now: the point of this book is to share my experience. This is the book that I wished I had in high school. It’s for people who honestly want to understand some of the issues of recovery and that want to know what it feels like to recover from a life-impacting head injury. And now that it’s down on paper, I can let it go.

‘Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirl-wind and said: Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’ –Job 40:6-7

-Today, She Is, Introduction, xii

I want to thank all of you who have given so much thought to reading my story. The love and support that so many of you have poured on me has left me in awe. I’ve shared some of my favorite responses here on my website because I want to remember them. I know, it’s only good ones… because I want my book to be an encouragement, to myself as well as to others.

The amount and the force of the negative spirit directed at me from several readers has also amazed me. I realize that I’m preaching to the choir because people who dislike my book probably aren’t going to read my blog, but I wanted to answer them publicly, here, and on my website, here, because this negativity has been shared publicly.

Some readers are extremely offended by the story. My book is creative non-fiction. That means that it is a true account of my experience of recovery from a traumatic brain injury. I also found the experience of traumatic brain injury extremely offensive. I think I can vouch that the myriads of victims who are traveling through similar trauma find the experience offensive as well. I wrote this book to share my experience.

I also wrote it in a way that I love, in a way that I think is beautiful but is true to the experience. When my book challenges a reader, I count it a success. I want to clearly and effectively communicate feelings and experiences. I want to move those who read. I hope it moves you to think, to pray, and to consider people and life from a different angle. I encourage you to step back and to consider the miracle that I am alive.

I expect that readers will come away with very different opinions, and I don’t expect it to be a mainstream beach pick. I realize that my book and the story itself are not for the faint of heart or for those who just don’t appreciate a challenging read. As I tried to make clear in the introduction, it’s not for everyone. If it is not your cup of tea, that’s absolutely alright. That’s completely valid. My story is out there to be a light of hope for victims and a light of understanding for bystanders. If it isn’t for you, it isn’t for you.

I am happy to receive critical reviews of the book. I’m a writer. I live with criticism and rejection of my work. But the first thing that you learn as a writer, or a teacher, or a mature person, is that if you want your criticism to be respected, criticize with respect.

Criticize the book itself. Don’t criticize my faith, my belief, or my past. That’s actually the logical fallacy of ad hominem, which happens when a critic attacks the person instead of their position – and it’s so common that I actually remember it from my days of logic.

I do not respond to personal attacks or to judgments of my faith or life. Gordon does not respond to personal attacks against me (in a good way. He’s got my back.) Please stop the hate mail, the hate gossip, and the hate calls. If you share negativity, please share this response as well.

Here’s how I want to leave you:

Imagine this: you meet a 15 year-old girl who, through no fault of her own, has been trammeled. Her head is crashed in. She barely survives, and her body is a complete wreck. Her body needs more than twice the amount of sleep than a healthy person needs, but she hasn’t had more than two straight hours of sleep in months – years, maybe. She can’t think. She can’t do anything. She is in constant pain, and she has no memories. Everything that she thought she knew about life has changed completely, and her future will never be the same. She doesn’t even know if life will ever be livable.

Are you going to tell her that it is ridiculous and offensive to be in an accident like that? Are you going to tell her that her life, right now, is the best that it could be?

There are so many people out there who are suffering like this. How will you respond?

How do you respond?

#response #criticism #todaysheis #hatemail #mollymiltenbergermurray