My Neurodivergent Narratives #1

This post was written Monday, March 20th, 2023.

Today was an adventure. And in a good way! 😊 Quite a few funny things happened, but it’s currently after 11:00pm and I’m too tired to remember them all.

First, some context: My fiancé recently moved his desk to our space-y living room. We used to share a room as an office. The layout was slightly cramped with our 2 dogs’ giant pile of pillows and blankets, and it was often difficult to figure out who could have their microphone on at various times of the day. It was also easy for me to get distracted sometimes when he was on his microphone. But since he volunteered to move his desk, I have my own office!

We love the new set up. I like to physically compartmentalize my work space away from my life space (so grateful for the privilege). It used to mean that my fiancé would continue to hang out and game in the room we shared while I spent my after work time in the living room. Now we’re in close proximity during these times! It’s so fun that I can play games on our living room TV while he plays games on his computer next to the couch. 💖

With the context out of the way: I’ve been slowly working on making the room a cute and cozy space. Being cozy while working is a necessity for me. I have an easier time keeping my mind clear and focused when I’m comfy. One of my favorite things about working from home is that I can wear sweatpants all the time.

One of today’s tasks for cozy-fying my office was cleaning a little box fan. Since we have dogs, the fan can collected a lot of dog hair and dust. Unfortunately this lil’ brain of mine forgets about this until it’s very visible on the fan. 😅

This is really unhelpful for the yearround sinus issues I experience! In the springtime (which is basically now in Indiana, or something we like to call fake spring lol) my sinus issues get worse and I tend to get more migraines than usual. Plus, the fan was not pretty to look at. Can’t have that in what’s supposed to be cozy room now can we???

To clean the fan, I needed to go to my car to get the cleaning supplies. They were in there because I take them to my Grandma’s house when I clean over there. Here are the events that followed in this adventure:

1. Found easy shoes to wear to the car
2. Decided to take the trash out while I was at it
3. Fiancé decided to come outside with me and enjoy the weather
4. I used my key fob to unlock my car
5. We took the trash out together on the way to my car
6. My car had decided to lock itself at some point, so I gave it the bird
7. We walked to the mailbox to check it
8. Fiancé decided he wanted to take the dogs on a mini walk while I went back out to my car
9. Proposed an adventure: we could all go pick up a package together and enjoy a short Windows Down Day drive
10. We went out to get my package
11. We went to the gas station to get cold drinks
12. Finally, we got home and all went inside
13. I completely forgot my cleaning supplies in my car
14. Went to the car again and grabbed the supplies
15. Realized that this entire thing started with me wanting to clean a fan
16. I cleaned the fan outside and enjoyed thinking about how fun and classically ADHD this was

I also spent time thinking about how to share my experience for other people to laugh about. There are a lot of tips & life hacks I’ve wanted to share too. In the year (and a few days) since being officially diagnosed with ADHD, I’ve learned so many helpful things that make my life easier and bring me further in accepting & loving my brain & body.

I’ve also really missed writing. This is my first post of 2023! I spent the end of 2022 working on trauma healing and burnout recovery, so there was a lot I wanted to do but couldn’t. I’m not magically healed now 3 months later, but I’m feeling good again and ready to continue creating art from the things I’ve experienced and am experiencing.

This brings me to this new series: My Neurodivergent Narratives. I plan to write as much as my brain allows me about my journey as a late-diagnosed neurodivergent. I’m very proud of my progress, and I know I have lots of goodies to share that can potentially help someone else. I also hope to aggressively challenge many stigmas I’ve come to understand better, in a way that helps other people love and accept themselves more.

I’m still learning of course, and I am no spokesperson of the neurodivergent community. What I write about here is my own experience. I’ll probably get some things wrong! I’ve been afraid of that for a while because I’m still so new in my journey. But I’ve also come a long way and want to spread the love and acceptance as far as possible.

We’re all doing the best we can with what we have, and that is 100% enough. 💗