Content Note: This article discusses topics related to collective stress and nervous system regulation. This piece reflects on the emotional and nervous system impact of recent events in the United States, including public violence, social unrest, and ongoing uncertainty. While it does not take political positions or describe graphic detail, it may touch on themesContinue reading “When the Storms Are No Longer Abstract: Staying Whimsical in the Shadowlands”
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When “Slow Down” Doesn’t Work
Neurodivergent Self-Care and the Myth of Rest Why Rest and Regulation Are Not the Same Thing For a long time, rest has been treated as a moral good. The quieter you are, the more regulated you must be. The more still your body looks, the healthier your nervous system is assumed to be. Calm becomesContinue reading “When “Slow Down” Doesn’t Work”
In Search of Shadows
There comes a moment when the old ways stop working, but the new ones have not yet revealed themselves. You are still functioning, still showing up, and yet something inside feels quietly unfinished. In Search of Shadows explores shadow work through a Jungian lens, inviting you into the inner labyrinth where forgotten parts, hidden brilliance, and belonging begin to take shape.
The Strange Ache That Follows You Into Morning
You wake up missing someone who never existed.
Not in the dramatic sense. In the subtle, unsettling way that lingers in the body. A heaviness in the chest. A quiet absence that doesn’t match the room you’re standing in. The person you miss was there in the dream. Close. Familiar. And now they’re gone, not to distance or time, but to waking up.
This kind of longing isn’t a mistake. It isn’t silly. It’s not something to rush past or explain away. Sometimes dreams offer us a moment of connection not to confuse us, but to remind us of what our nervous system recognizes as meaningful.
The ache isn’t asking to be solved. It’s asking to be noticed.
Knowing Without a Badge, Diagnosing With Intention
The Both/And Case for Autism, Self-Knowledge, and Safety There is a particular flavor of online discourse that smells faintly of certainty and burnt toast. You know the kind. Someone announces that adult autism diagnosis is unnecessary, indulgent, or a sign of cultural weakness, and suddenly the room fills with declarations about resilience, personal responsibility, andContinue reading “Knowing Without a Badge, Diagnosing With Intention”
ADHD Paralysis and the Art of Gentle Momentum
The Doorway That Won’t Open There’s a particular kind of stillness that comes with ADHD paralysis. You want to start. You maybe even care deeply. Yet your body feels glued to the chair, your brain is ricocheting like a pinball machine, and somehow three hours pass while you’ve accomplished absolutely nothing except learning fifteen strangeContinue reading “ADHD Paralysis and the Art of Gentle Momentum”
K-Pop Demon Hunters & The Mythic Work of Being Human
There’s a specific kind of fatigue that settles behind the eyes when you’ve spent too long pretending to be fine. Not the “long week at work” kind. The kind that comes from glittering on the outside while something feral claws at the inside of your ribs, desperate to be known. Humans are real experts atContinue reading “K-Pop Demon Hunters & The Mythic Work of Being Human”
When the Holidays Feel Heavy: Navigating the Shadow Side of the Season
The Holiday Glow vs. the Inner Winter There’s a certain kind of silence that settles in around the holidays. Not the peaceful kind from movie snowfalls and scented-candle commercials, but the deeper, heavier quiet that presses behind the ribs when everyone else seems to be glowing. The stillness that arrives between the first twinkle lightsContinue reading “When the Holidays Feel Heavy: Navigating the Shadow Side of the Season”
Cloaks, Characters, and Survival Spells: Neurodivergent Masking in Toxic Settings
Two Haunted Houses: The Workplace Swamp and the Holiday Table Cauldron There’s a peculiar time of year when life seems to usher you through two very different haunted houses, each one demanding its own flavor of neurodivergent masking. The first is the workplace, glowing under fluorescent lights that flicker like a ghost with a grudge. YouContinue reading “Cloaks, Characters, and Survival Spells: Neurodivergent Masking in Toxic Settings”
The Sky Within: Understanding the Psychological Layers of Life’s Storms
Opening Forecast | Where Storm Meets Haven When the Sky First Breaks The first time the sky broke open, you thought it was the end.Pressure had been building for months, an ache in the chest, a static hum in the mind, the kind of exhaustion that doesn’t sleep. Then the thunder arrived, louder than youContinue reading “The Sky Within: Understanding the Psychological Layers of Life’s Storms”