Jeff: First of all, it’s hard to see the thing that you’re in when you’re in the thing. Second of all, the nature of the thing you’re in may be a muddy lack of clarity and inability to find the words. At the very time you most need understanding from others, you are least capable of … Continued
Laura: Too often, society has approached neurodivergence as a hurdle to overcome. Certainly there are some very real challenges faced by anyone living with a neurodivergent brain (that, I know all too well!). This very divergence has incredible potential to open a beautiful world of gifts as well. As a public school educator, I get to … Continued
Avi: For most of my life, thinking meant speaking to myself in a clear strong inner voice which felt like “me”. Then after a shift in my practice in 2010, that inner voice largely disappeared and for a long time this was a traumatic loss. I felt as though I couldn’t think at all and it … Continued
Joss: I’ve been thinking about how difference becomes stigmatized, how uniqueness becomes an exclusion, and how the world we’re in weighs heavily on our experiences of our own psychology. I’m borrowing a page from disability studies’ distinction between an impairment (which are the variations and limits we have), and a disability (which is a consequential social- construction … Continued
Ofosu: For years I tried to muscle through meditations while intrusive negative thoughts were assaulting me. I thought if I could just meditate well enough, long enough, strong enough…the thoughts would eventually dissipate. Instead, I’d get caught in a loop where negative thoughts tangled with self-judgement and meditator imposter syndrome, creating a whole lot of suffering. … Continued