Sweeney’s Stuttering Update – September 2023

Good morning everyone,

I hope you’re having a lovely start to the week 🙂

September 2023 has flown by in what feels like the blink of an eye, but you know what that means, it’s time for another Sweeney’s Stuttering Update! I like to do these updates as a monthly log of my journey to speech fluency, bringing you along on the ride with me. So, let’s see how my speech has been doing over the last couple of weeks.

Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!

My speech feels like it has gone on a crazy adventure over September, with my holiday to Cyprus, work being incredibly busy and my recent weekend in London all having a different impact on my stutter.

Firstly, as I’ve mentioned a couple of times on the page, my recent holiday out in Cyrpus was amazing and was exactly what I needed after a rather turbulent couple of months. It was lovely to have the opportunity to just relax and rewind, with amazing weather, awe-inspiring views and breathtaking food, it’s safe to say that it certainly did not disappoint!

How does this relate to my speech? Well, my stutter personally is massively influenced by my mindset and the emotions that I am feeling at any given time – it is very common for me to stutter more when I am under intense emotions, such as when I am very happy, very stressed, very sad and what have you.

I’ve known that my emotions play a pretty big role in my overall speech management for quite some time, but I feel like it’s a lesson that I need to remind myself about. It’s very easy to fall into the trap of thinking that I will only stutter more when I am anxious, upset or maybe a little bit mad, but it can also be on the flip side, for instance, if I am highly excited, passionate or invested into a work. No matter what the emotion, they all create a different impact on my speech.

The lesson that has really hit home for me over a number of years now is that it is all about balance – not just in regard to how I balance emotions, but also in a grander sense in how I approach and feel about the concept of stuttering. My stutter isn’t a single entity that never changes, it’s something that evolves alongside me as a person, growing with me on this journey through life.

If the last couple of years have taught me anything, it’s that I cannot control everything that happens in my life – I can never be in control over every possible thing and that is 100% okay. Whether my week ahead is chaotically busy with events, is an emotional rollercoaster or is a week in paradise, it’s all about ensuring that I find a way to retain some form of balance in my life.

While this is something that will be enormously beneficial for my speech, it will also be a fantastic thing for me to work on as a person more broadly. We are always encountering the topic of change as we progress through life, it’s intrinsically linked to the journey that we are all on as people. It’s not something that we should worry or be anxious about, it’s something that we should actively embrace with an open mind, seeing what the future has in store for each and every one of us.

As I look ahead to what can only be described as a very busy couple of weeks, I know that everything will eventually work itself out, it’s all a part of the journey. No matter what life has to throw at us, we’ve got this, don’t you worry 😎

That’s all for today’s blog, what do you think? Do you enjoy seeing these monthly updates? Are there any topics or ideas that you would like me to explore on the page over the next couple of weeks?

I’d love to hear your thoughts 🙂

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a lovely day!