Hacks

There is no way I could ever do what I do without all the tricks and strategies I have spent a lifetime developing. At this point in my life, if it weren't for all of those hacks, I would be absolutely and irrevocably lost - a newly identified (acknowledged) neurodivergent, certified  basket-case.

To be clear, I have always been neuro-spicy, but it wasn't until two years ago (at the age of 57 1/2) that I finally learned enough about it to understand that it explained the weird, super creative, hyper-sensory, clumsy, socially awkward, and learning difference (all the "dys's") traits within me - that fought for recognition for all those years.

Back to a few of the hacks -

• Because of my issues with object permanence (if it is not in my line of vision, in my mind, it does not exist), I have open shelving at home, and everything at the Center is either labeled (folks think the labels are for the kids - ha, little do they know...) or in an open file holder on a shelf in my office. The file cabinet is where things go to die - never to be found again.
• Everything, and I mean everything(!), has a home and goes back to it as soon as I am done. If there is a question about where something is, I remember to look in its home first because it has become an unconscious habit to put things away. I usually don’t remember doing it.
• At heart, I am a minimalist - too much "stuff" means it can easily descend into disorganized chaos.
• Deadlines are my friends - I never met one I didn't like. (Artificial ones work great too!)
• And to go along with that, early morning is when I can accomplish a day's worth of tasks in only a few hours - don't get in the way! The afternoon is nap time - my brain turns off for the day - (if only DRC kids were on board).
• To combat time blindness - in my head, I work backward from when I have to be somewhere or do something - to ensure I am always on time, if not early. Being late means someone would have to wait for me. (Cringe!) I also have the memory of a gnat so Google Calendar is a lifesaver on a few counts! As soon as I promise to do something - it goes directly into my calendar.
• I love the challenge of looking at problems from different angles and brainstorming ideas that don't seem obvious at first and quietly implementing them with little fuss -understanding nothing is ever finished - it can always be revised or scrapped altogether.  Because mistakes will be made or another better idea will come along.
  
• Related - when the creative spark strikes - I pounce on it. (That is where the dopamine lives.) Sometimes, I need a jump start. But even then, all it usually takes is sitting in front of the laptop - with an open project on Canva or Grammarly and a random idea.
• I have limited social energy on a good day and even less on a "bad" day. I have learned to say "no" to group activities or functions when I know it will put me over my threshold to a place of being overwhelmed, cranky, and exhausted. Mainly because it is usually loud, there is lots of visual stimulation (which makes me get tunnel vision), so many smells (no one ever really talks about the olfactory deluge), and to top it off, small talk is tortuously awkward, especially when the face-blindness "thing" gets me in trouble.

I now realize that before I understood my brain differences, all of these hacks were developed over time so that I could navigate through the world without tipping people off to my weirdness - my "deficits." It was never an option to fail or be noticed.

The backward part of that thinking is that all my weirdness, in reality, is my superpower. If my Fairy Godmother appeared before me and offered a neurotypical brain - I would refuse and run the other way without hesitation.

My neurodivergence makes it possible for me to be unapologetically my creative, problem-solving, quirky (goofy) self. Instead of hiding, I now use the hacks to highlight all that weird awesomeness and accomplish everything I want to do.  In the process, I am normalizing neuro-spiciness so the young people I work with are comfortable being their authentic selves, too.

DRC News

The Craft Fair Family Fun event that we had to cancel last week has been rescheduled for Oct. 5th.  So - new date and new name but the same plan - tons of family fun!
Vendors can register here.

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Digby Doo is home from his summer vacation - a bit chooonkier than when he left. He was a happy to be spoiled by his Auntie Karen & Jasmine.

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Two weeks of Summer Program begins on Monday. There is still time to register.