Anything but not Everything

I completed this spread in one of my art journals recently. "You can do anything, but you can't do everything." This is something that I have to remind myself of often. ⁣I saw a video posted by @awomancalledgeorge over on Instagram recently (I LOVE her) that really struck a chord with me. She shared that she had been diagnosed with adult ADHD and was struggling with that. As I listened to what led her to be formally assessed, I was shaking my head "yes, that's me too" constantly. (And it's not lost on me that perhaps that's why I relate to this woman so much in general) I'd never really thought about it, but once I did, I realized I have a lot of, um, tendencies? (not really sure what to call them? behaviors? characteristics? habits? tendencies?) that truly did point to that. So I took a free online adult ADHD test, and then another, and then another, and then another. I took at least four or five over the course of a few weeks. The questions varied, but the results of all of them pointed to the same thing: that I definitely show clear signs of adult ADHD. I talked to my husband about it, and he said, "well, duh." Reassuring, right? But he knows me well.

Most of the studies for ADHD have been done on young boys. The studies have just recently started to look at adults, mostly men. Yet, I feel quite certain that there are a boat load of women who also struggle with this and haven't really put a name to it yet. But like George said in her video, now what? I've been considering talking to a therapist about a formal assessment just so that I could learn some management strategies that might help me feel less like a hamster on a running wheel, but then again, if I do that and have my suspicions confirmed, truly then what? I feel like I've lived my whole life this way ... constantly feeling like I need to be doing something, difficulty truly relaxing (because I should be doing something!), difficulty falling asleep at night because I can't turn off my brain, incredibly easily distracted, world class procrastinator, etc ... and I've done pretty well for myself, both personally and professionally. So, I don't know. I don't feel that I'd even be remotely interested in taking pharmaceuticals for it, but I would be open to learning some coping techniques. It's definitely given me more things to think about to keep from falling asleep at night. Anyone else feel this way? ⁣

So as I sat here today, the Monday before Thanksgiving, starting to upload all my completed jewelry and journals to my website for holiday sales - because, of course, I've put it off until the last minute - I decided to just let this year be the mess that it's been and not worry about it. A bold move for me! I have probably two dozen journals and a dozen or so new jewelry baubles completed that I've not uploaded to my website, and I'm just going to let them sit pretty on my shelf for a bit longer. It feels a bit freeing, actually. I know that I'm lucky in that my creative business is not my main source of income, so I have the privilege of doing this. Not all creatives do, so support those creative small businesses! They need your support! I have put everything currently available on my website on sale if you'd like to do a little shopping there as well. And if you see any finished jewelry or journals scrolling through my Instagram and are interested in one of those, just let me know.

 

Lastly, if you feel like you are struggling with any sort of neurodivergency, here's your encouragement to stop ignoring it. And here's a good article from the Cleveland Clinic about ADHD in women. I know for me, since reading more about it, I've been thinking about ways to approach certain areas I struggle with differently. Just knowing that there are pathways I can work on has helped me get started!