#FirstCoffeeThoughts

When I was in middle school, I had a breakdown and nearly ended up in a mental health facility because I was convinced I was absolutely going insane.

This was, due mostly in part to being an #aphant, a #synesthete, having some #learningdifficulties (mainly because I learned differently from others), having #SPS, and a few other things that straddled the #neurodivergent boundary. It was all fantasy back then, unknown, not researched, not acknowledged.

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This was also around the time of puberty and menstrual issues ... my #PCOS probably began around that time as it can start as early as 11 or 12 years old.

Having extremely abnormal periods and pain and being told "this is all normal" ... dealing with extreme debilitating pain at that age and not being believed or listened to etc ...

It was a nightmarish time where everyone around me was so very different from me as far as how they saw the world and their emotional and mental development.

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I was utterly alone ... completely isolated ... and made the feel like there were so many things wrong with me, so many things that not only made me different but BROKEN in the eyes of everyone I knew including my family.

It was terrifying and certainly I had ideas of unaliving myself.

My peers were sociopathic narcissists who bullied each other and in some cases inflicted psychological warfare on one another CONSTANTLY and this was considered normal adolescent behavior. It terrified me.

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There were so many reasons why I wanted to die back then ... so many reasons why I felt like I would never be able to relate to another person ever ...

The way I perceived the world was like a million times different than everyone else because of how my brain was "broken" and no one knew, not even me, and I just thought it meant I was broken even though everyone around me seemed like budding serial killers with no emotional connection or capacity whereas I had too much.

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Nowadays ... we have a lot more information about the brain and neurodiversity and women's health and all kinds of things and that makes it a lot easier to live ... but at the same time some things are still the same as far as how I understand the world around me.

Sociopaths, hatred, violence, racism, narcissism, mental and emotional dysregulation, psychological warfare, bullying, hate crimes ... these are all kind of NORMALIZED and COMMON parts of how people behave in the world every day.

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Similar to when I was in middle school, those of us who don't engage in these behaviors or call out these behaviors or expressed concern about these behaviors or try to speak out about these behaviors ... we're the ones who are somehow considered ABNORMAL or WEAK because we think it's ODD and NOT GOOD to dwell in negativity or perpetuate negativity or to cause other people harm based on things like ... pathological bias, unmanaged mental illness, or - in some people's cases - "just because".

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The difference now is that I live a very isolated and semi-safe life except for the time I choose to be online engaging in social media and that is something I can stop anytime and I have the tools to control my experience.

I'm not in the PRISON of the education system where daily I had to be trapped in an enclosed space for multiple hours a day surrounded by unwell people who scared, bullied, or didn't understand me and targeted me. Where there was nowhere safe, not school or home ...

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I spent decades of my life being told I was the one who was broken, who was not normal, who was weak, and who needed to change and fit in better to society.

I spent even more of that time being told I was stupid, too sensitive, too disrespectful, too loud, too full of ego ...

And even still to this day being told I think too much, talk too much, care too much ...

The problem is still always me and never others. I am the one who has to change to fit the world, never others.

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𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳.

That's something my father has said to me on more than one occasion.

And my mother used to say

𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳.

It's weird how both of those sentences essentially advocate wilful ignorance as a survival skill.

Is that how they got through their lives as well? Is that how most people do?

Just by choosing not to see or care?

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My parents were indeed advocating ignorance and weakness but ONLY for me.

They wanted to control me. They wanted to hinder my observations of their behaviors, their failings, their weaknesses.

They wanted me to not see, to not speak up, to gaslight me and make me question myself.

That what darkness does ... it makes you question what you see within it. It makes you wonder about the shadows swirling within and begin to question your sanity or your position.

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I remember writing in my diary as early as the 6th grade ... wishing that whatever made my brain able to perceive weird colors and sensations and emotional vibrations was gone.

I remember praying (when we used to do nightly prayers before bed) that I would wake up normal ... that I'd stop understanding things that a kid probably shouldn't understand.

What a horrible state to be in ...

To be in so much pain that you wish for ignorance or wish for blindness especially at such a young age.

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I have a million theories about what is wrong with the world.

Some is backed by data and scientific study and research and knowledge of psychology and some is just from observation over a small amount of time being alive and my limited life experience.

I think the most important thing that I ever came to understand - and this took a very long time for me to wrap my brain around - is that 𝙄'𝙢 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙. It's not my mere existence causing worldwide destruction.

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We are all born into the Universe for a reason.

And I do believe that includes people who are creating darkness, who are trying to actively destroy light and positivity. The two can't exist without the other.

Some people are here to do damage just as some people are here to heal that damage.

There is a balance of roles for all energy in the Universe.

But people now have it twisted.

The "good" aren't weak and wrong. The "bad" aren't strong and right. The "grey" aren't the answer.

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We all have our roles to play and only time and history will truly be able to determine who was on the right and "light" side of things ... long after this generation and even the next few are gone.

All you can do is figure out who you are in the world, what you believe your place is, what you believe your calling is, and act according to that pull; that draw to one side or the other; the dark or the light ... or even the grey ...

Only you can know this.
In the end it is your choice.

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𝘿𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙙.
Be aware.
Be knowledgeable.
Be educated.

𝘿𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙙.
Know yourself
Be strong in your convictions.
Follow your path.

𝘿𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙.
The Dark Side always seems easier, more rewarding, and less lonely ... but that doesn't mean it's the better place to be ... and that doesn't mean it will be on the right side of history ...

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𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘴, 𝘋𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘯? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘺. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘨. - Sebastian (Wayne Alexander) #Babylon5

𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘵, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵. - Delenn (Mira Furlan) Babylon 5

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