Being Autistic Is Like Screaming Through A Megaphone “please Don’t Overwork Me, I WILL Explode”

In a truck stop bathroom washing my hands today and 2 boys, looked about 5 and 9, came in with their little sister who looked maybe 2. The following whispered conversation made my entire day

"We have to wait, there's a lady in here!"

"That's not a lady, he has a mustache! We can be in here!"

"Some ladies have mustaches! And she has boobs!"

"Well some guys have boobs! Like Uncle Jake!"

"Uncle Jake is fat!"

At this point I could not contain a chuckle and both whirled around with identical looks of panic on their faces. I smiled and said "it's alright for you guys to be in here so your sister has help, don't worry. And I'm both! That's why I have boobs and a mustache. Some folks are just built that way"

(In unison) "Ooooooh!"

(older boy) "So do you use Sir or Ma'am or both?"

"Both, but I prefer Sir"

"Cool! Well thanks Sir! We have to help our sister now!"

This was in a small town country truck stop and both boys had "Murica" type stuff on and neither of them had any issue at all with these concepts. Their mom approached me while I was in line about 10 minutes later and apologized for them bothering me in the bathroom (they had told her about the interaction) and she and I had a lovely little chat too. I got to introduce her to the term "intersex" and her reply was "I think I've heard of that before! I didn't know that was the word for it. Amazing how many different ways God can make people!"

Sometimes the world is good. More often than you might think, if you give it a chance. It's not all bad loves <3

sebastian stardew valley would never treat me like this

Fremillei art study ☀️

Versailles No Bara - The Rose of Versailles Bara wa utsukushiku chiru (1994) OST artwork

So LGBTQ+ is now completely illegal in Russia. I wonder if anyone going to talk about that. I'm so tired

🌱🌻💚

Collei redesign

neuvillette having the rain betray his straight laced expression is so special to me, the fact it rains often during trial, god. neuvillette witnessing the most horrific of cases flash before him on a day to day basis whilst maintaining his composure, only for the pouring rain to represent how he truly feels, for humanity.

he's such an emotional character who wishes for the best of those around him, despite not knowing what that idea of the 'best' might exactly be. he doesn't understand humanity but he cherishes, and grieves for them all the same.

update because even though the sadness and confusion are real, my perspective did in fact change haha

after a good phone call with a fellow ND friend I’ve returned to the conclusion that I’m probably just autistic (this is not new). I don’t feel like a woman because I often don’t feel like a human and a lot of things can make me dissociate from my body (and we both felt that)

Honestly I’m okay with this. Obviously dissociating is not fun but… Just understanding that being a queer/neurodivergent woman is its own thing. There’s other autistic who are nonbinary or trans and that’s also a thing. Idk. I’d just like everyone to feel valid. No one should have to prove their identity to others. And of course everyone has a different path with exploring their own identity. In some way I guess it’s funny that my path as a girl/woman is not so straightforward, despite it being the gender I was assigned at birth. Is it actually this complicated for most people, when they really sit down to examine it? hmm

praying my feelings on this don’t change dramatically… but if they do, well I suppose that’s life!

Dear Reader,

I'm glad that I got to experience life as a girl. I really am. It brings me to tears just thinking about it. Sure, there are drawbacks, but so many positives. I mean...

For example, it was nice to play with the other girls because they never treated me roughly. I could feel safe with them. And it's so lovely to wear dresses and skirts and cute accessories with no one thinking it's odd. It's nice to not feel so self-conscious about expressing my emotions. It's comforting to be able to connect and commiserate with others who have experienced girlhood and/or are living as a woman.

But... as I continue to see my therapist, I become more aware of how my anxiety manifests, how I often feel trapped or unseen by the world, for seemingly no reason that I can discern. The feeling of being trapped keeps returning. I'm scared of what it might mean. Maybe it's not related to my gender at all. But I'm still scared of it. And yet I hope to unravel it one day.

Today I went to shower and saw my body in the mirror, and maybe I'm just tired, but I felt so wrong. Another thing I'm not able to explain. And earlier when I spoke with my father, I hated every word that came out of my mouth, not because I thought what I was saying was dumb or irrelevant, but because suddenly, my voice didn't sound like mine.

By the way, I'm not a boy. In case you're asking that, I want to make it clear. To call myself a boy or a man just doesn't feel quite right. But I am always a person, and I don't mind calling myself a woman... sometimes.

I wish this was easy. But I have a feeling this is what the Death card that came up in a recent tarot reading (I know, I'm silly) meant for me. I interpreted it as needing to really grieve something in order to keep moving forward with my life. And I don't know, it all feels connected somehow.

Maybe this is simply part of my path to becoming a woman? I wonder.

For now I just need to cry. Like Chihiro from Spirited Away. I still remember the message I took from the ending of the film, that filled me with such sadness.

"I can never return to my childhood."

Can you give me some advice related to bpd, please?

Okay :). First and foremost, I want to clarify that these are based on my lived experiences with BPD. That doesn't mean they're all right or wrong; what works for me may not work for you. With that being said, here are some little things I tell myself often

Emotions are fleeting - What you're feeling isn't going to last forever, and that's okay. You're not going to always be in agony! However strong and terrible, this feeling has to fade at some point, so keep going. We experience such strong emotions in BPD and I feel that we experience blindness to the end of our feelings, that is to say, we don't realize that this probably isn't the worst thing ever and that our emotions do pass! You have survived every mood swing up to this point, and as time goes on you can learn to cope better and better with whatever is thrown your way.

Forgive yourself - In life, it is inevitable that we are the bad guy at times. This can be really hard to come to terms with when you have BPD, because of our tendency to use black-and-white thinking. Few people are all good or all bad, and that includes you! So, for all those moments where we were wrong, let's forgive ourselves and promise to do better. Let's learn from our mistakes, see what we could have done better, and work towards it. We aren't all bad or all good, we are simply nuanced and complex human beings working on ourselves!

Not everybody leaves, but also loss is not the worst thing in the world - In BPD we often face that terrible fear of abandonment, but it's important to remember that in healthy relationships, people don't just leave out of nowhere. When that fear of abandonment strikes, ask yourself if it's based on facts or if it's your mind trying to spiral! "Do I have evidence that I'm being abandoned? Is this fear based on reality?" But it's also important to remember that loss is a natural part of life, and so we need to learn to cope appropriately. In many ways, people come and go. Whether it be through death, break ups (friends or romantic), moving, or any other ways; we don't stay in the same spot and with the same exact people forever and ever and ever, and that's ok! Friendships can be lifelong but someone has to die eventually like, it's ok that nothing is exactly as concrete as we'd like it to be. Live for the now, enjoy what we do have instead of fearing for the future that will probably end up alright anyway!

Live in the now - Continuing on from my last point, mindfulness and staying in the present are really important. It isn't healthy to spend every waking moment fearing the what-ifs and possible future. Allow yourself to enjoy the moments you have for what they are now, and allow the future to come when it comes. That's not to say throw everything to the wayside and live for today only, moderation is important! A little bit of worry now and again won't kill you, but it's not fair to yourself to be so preoccupied with every little thing that could go wrong instead of focusing on what is happening.

It's okay to let go - Similar to my third point, letting go is okay! Realize and understand you cannot feasibly control everything and everyone around you. That's ok. Things won't always go your way in life, and although it feels nice to be in control, sometimes what we perceive as being "in control" is detrimental. Allow yourself to let go sometimes, and be in control other times. It's about finding a balance in life. It's ok to not have everything you want right now this second, it's ok that mishaps happen, it's ok that the people around you may not think like you or agree with everything you say or do. All of that is part of the complex experience of living, and that's okay! That's all I have for now, but I hope this helps you somehow. Always remember that to get better we must put in the work to heal, it won't come easy but it'll definitely come! We just need to keep at it and keep going, to use our coping skills and be patient and kind to ourselves. Love you.

poppy meadow; antelope valley, california

instagram - twitter - website