This is shared as a personal creative work. Poetry and artwork communicate lived experiences in unique ways, and each piece reflects the individual voice and perspective of its creator.
Breakthrough
My 2024 car accident introduced a level of brokenness I had never experienced before. In its wake, I taught myself to make mosaics on discarded bricks. A mosaic is a new creation made by rearranging what’s been broken — a process that mirrors my own healing.
On this brick, the neatly arranged glass represents norms and expectations — from society and from who I was before the accident. The jagged shards are post-accident me, still trying to fit into those same patterns. But the pieces won’t fit. They spill out in the form of outbursts, tears, headaches, visual disturbances — you name it.
And yet, with time, grace, and care, those same shards begin to grow new life — beauty created from brokenness.
Written by: Amanda Richins
Person living with a brain injury
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Amanda resides in Southern California with her husband & two kids. She enjoys time with friends, working at her church, being creative, & laughing. After a car accident in August 2024 caused a TBI and compound arm fracture, she began creating mosaics as both therapy & art.
Creativity brings hope to life.
In 2025, we invited those living with a brain injury from our community to share their artwork for the first-ever Hope Survives Greeting Card Collection. This piece is part of the featured gallery which highlights the artists whose work was selected for our printed cards, available as part of this fundraiser.
Click here to see our current gallery.
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