[Names have been changed to preserve anonymity.] It finally happened... it took a long time and I did not in any way believe we would be immune to what so many others have had to endure over the last 18 months. It was, in fact, an incredible privilege that it hadn't happened until now. But …
Tag: current events
Generosity, as a Form of Self-Care
Over the past year, my husband and I got involved with a local organization focused on food justice in our neighborhood. The two leaders were friends who wanted to do something to make certain the local BIPOC community were set up with food to sustain themselves when the lock down was keeping some people from …
Social Media Will Destroy Us All
So I got into a "conversation " with a couple of blokes on LinkedIn the other day related to Oregon's governor and a bill she signed related to education policy and standardized testing as a graduation requirement. The article cited was also politically conservative in nature and this series of white men were exclaiming from …
On Break
As of last Monday, I am taking a two-week leave of absence from my job. This leave is a result of the building stress I have been experiencing which has resulted in physical symptoms including loss of visual acuity, elevated blood pressure and greater-than-normal sleep disturbances. This stress is not entirely work-related, but the part …
Good Business Practice
I am taking a short leave of absence from work this week and next due to my anxiety and stress. One of the first things I think of as a tool at my disposal for stress management is to head directly to my local float center. If you are unfamiliar, floating is a practice where …
Mental Illness
I am no stranger to mental illness. I'm not talking about autism, which is a neurological condition, kind of like the frame I use to experience the world. Before I knew I was autistic, it wasn't that I thought all people looked at the world through the same frame, but I did not realize how …
What if I Don’t Want to be an “Autistic Self-Advocate?”
Everyone advocates for themselves all the time. If you go into a salary negotiation or other similar situation, it is assumed that you will be arguing and presenting your best case for your best interests to the best of your ability. But what if that is not your natural inclination? What if you understand that …
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Myopia
I've been thinking a lot lately about how we, as individual human beings, can contribute to the healing of our society. It should be clear to everyone at this point that humanity has a list of existential crises that we have known about for more or less time. These situations have not yet been addressed …
Is Growth Inevitable?
In many different contexts, it seems as if things are continually increasing, rising, expanding or growing. We are told the universe grows as though the galaxies are placed on the outside of a balloon that is being blown up indefinitely (until it pops?). We are also told that if you are able to save even …
Urban vs Rural, or Proof That We Live Too Fast
Since autism and neurodiversity have become such "hot topics" in the culture lately, some very interesting wisdom has come to me. One thing is that ever since I moved to the city, when I graduated college essentially, I have spent inordinate amounts of time and energy just trying to exist, transport myself to work and …
Continue reading Urban vs Rural, or Proof That We Live Too Fast
