It's that time of year when I'm racing around looking for employment, and feeling very down and out of sorts. So, I've decided to make a list of some of the joyful aspects of my own autistic experience, to balance out the negatives, since sometimes the only way to fight autism is with...more autism. I'm not a proponent of the "autism gives you superpowers" schtick, but there are plenty of ways that our neurodivergent brains can achieve their own unique sorts of copacetic happiness.
Here are a few of mine:
1. Wearing super long, nature themed earrings, and my Spider-Man T-shirts I got on discount in the kid's section of Target, because nerd stuff acts like fuel for my brain.
2. eating lollipops and mints because I'm an adult, damnit, and it makes life 10x more bearable.
3. Finding new groups to play card games with and obsessing over that for ages, because there's nothing in life a good fantasy game can't fix.
4. walking around in nature with absolutely zero responsibility to meet people's eyes, because I'm floating in my cloud of bliss and nobody can disturb me here.
5. Having my dog lie on top of me. It's the best sensory experience ever, plus I enjoy furthering her delusion that she's a lapdog instead of a medium sized menace.
6. Jumping randomly when I'm running on the trails—it's an old stim of mine, and there's no joy quite like flying through the air.
7. Perching on top of things, rather than sitting normally. It's a superior form of resting, in my opinion. I also rock like a fiend in my chair. Sue me: it's too fantastic to feel self conscious about.
8. The glory of returning to an old song/video/podcast you used to listen to on repeat, only to realize it sounds even more awesome now.
9. Changing my screensaver with my special interests
10. Screaming random *** at cars that would make no sense to anybody else but me and a few friends, because when I get wired, I speak in gibberish code.
I'd love hearing yours, even if it's something small.
Love,
Max