Lessons I’ve learned, and being reminded about, as I approach the big 4–0.
I’ve learned a lot in the last ten years - since I started training to be a psychotherapist; I am more switched on to the world around me and more connected to the world within me so I wanted to complete some kind of 40 for 40 ritual. As I am in the business of helping people connect to themselves more I figured writing about my connecting to myself might be helpful for others.
I’m different to neurotypicals and it frustrates me, but I have a slow process and for me to get the best out of an experience I need to respect this process.
Transitioning from one activity/conversation to another can be challenging for me. I need time to catch up — a pause to settle into a different way of being.
I need around 10–15 minutes to ‘arrive’ anywhere I go. If I get there and get on with what I went there to do, I will feel scattered and unsure and if I haven’t found a way to ground myself I will feel this way for the whole day.
Reflecting on this need to ‘arrive’ I have worked out what is happening in those 10–15 minutes — I’m unsure if it’s an autistic response or a trauma response or a combination of both — I am surveying my environment. When arriving into a group of people, I am observing them, I am getting the lay of the land, I am…
