I think we’re long overdue for a quick catch-up.

Sorry, dear reader to talk to you like you’re a friend who moved to a different country and I haven’t seen you since before COVID started. Honestly, though… the abandoned feeling my blog was starting to get feels a bit like that. I’m relieved these days when I look at my blog analytics and notice strangers are still looking at something I wrote years ago on the internet. Being a person who creates content on the internet can create this very real fear of (somehow) not being relevant enough anymore.

What has been going on lately?

Things are still the same in a sense that I am still self-employed, and still working for clients. Although priorities have shifted significantly and so has my lifestyle. You’re probably wondering how and why. So here are the important parts.

1) An important part of this quick catch-up: I still haven’t found a home for my book yet

I have been submitting queries, pitches, and my manuscript for a year now. Growing Up With Dyspraxia is a non-fiction story that shares my experiences growing up with a disability that has an awareness and lack of support problem. It’s an ambitious project that’s so super niche that getting anyone to take it has been a difficult journey.

I have pitched 90 agents and indie publishers so far. I have experienced hostility, silence, rejection, and tons of people who aren’t as in love with the story as I am. The process involved in submitting books to people in this industry has been a real test on a number of levels. My neurodiverse brain always wants to default to anxiety mode more often than I’m proud to admit. Then there’s my resilience and motivation. I have dreamed of the day I can hold and smell a hard copy of something I wrote in my hands since I was a little girl. I am so close yet so far away to “making it happen”.

Here’s a quick catch-up on what is happening with my book!

In December of 2020, a senior editor at JKP Publishers saw a Twitter thread I did about my book. She then asked for a book proposal, loved the book proposal, and asked to read the first few chapters. Then she asked to see the full manuscript. Now, the book is in the hands of an external reviewer. The reviewer is a key player in what happens next. I know literally nothing about this external reviewer so they’re a bit of an unknown variable. I don’t even know at this point when I’ll hear more about this.

I am also at a similar stage of the process with a publisher at Your Stories Matter, but I only know that they’re reading my book.

2) I have been working with some really interesting clients lately

I’m really proud of what I have been working on lately. For a while, I admit my heart wasn’t as in my work as I once was. I was quietly working hard to make decisions that would be practical but make me a lot happier. Because not all clients are angels, and I’m not 23 anymore. I’m a different person with different priorities than when I first started doing this. I guess that’s only natural to feel that way though.

My busiest month of 2021 so far was January. In January, it felt like pretty much everyone needed me at once.  I was taking on too much work though, and I didn’t realize that until I said “yes” a few too many times. When I get information overload, I get anxiety. When I get anxiety, my chronic fidgeting (stimming) gets really intense and I’m more likely to hurt myself accidentally while fidgeting. I definitely didn’t produce my best work, but invoices still got processed and paid.

That’s exactly what made the months that followed so important…

On Friday, I finished my first Uptimize resource. What makes it so special and precious is what they hired me for. Uptimize trains corporations and enterprises on neurodiversity training and hiring. The person who I replaced at the right HR background to get their target market, but didn’t have enough understanding of neurodiversity. I was hired because I’m neurodiverse myself but also have written for similar audiences.

My job is to write resources on a regular basis on neurodiversity in the workplace that help people understand the value of hiring neurodiverse people just like me. Writing my book and being immersed in the neurodiversity activism community has made that an important priority for me. I also wrote an article on the online disability community’s support network for an organization called Shareable with a TBA publishing day.

I also just wrote my fourth article for Spot App. I have peeked at their analytics and comments lately, and I’m pleased with the impact my articles have made.

3) I’m becoming an important collaborator & making lots of friends in the #Dyspraxia community

I now volunteer a lot of my time on the panel of Dyspraxia Magazine. It’s a  digital magazine by and for people living with Dyspraxia founded by my friend Krystal Shaw.

I also am a founding member of Dyspraxic Alliance, an online support group for Dyspraxic people. That takes up a lot of volunteer time as well because there are always events to plan and zoom calls to do. When I’m not working, there’s always something Dyspraxia community-focused to plan. My lifetime dream of meeting other Dyspraxics and helping other Dyspraxics has finally come true. The drama is the tiring part. The helping other people part makes the years of stigma and challenges I have faced worth it. I also have a quick catch-up with this community every single day.

4) I’m less ashamed of my disability making me take time off to rest

As you can see by reading this, I am doing a lot for a one-person who is a team of one. I also have plenty I need to stop ignoring. Neurodiversity brain can be really tiring because I have to focus so much to do everything. I also have some chronic pain issues and sometimes that stops me from having enough sleep.

In an effort to blend in, I have ignored all these things. When I can’t ignore them any longer, I can sometimes be very self-deprecating and apologetic. Listening to my instincts about when/ how I work has made me a better worker. So it’s in the best interests of everyone I work or volunteer with that I don’t ignore the physical and mental sensation of needing to slow down immediately.  I am just a person who cares about the world being a kinder, better place.

Thanks for listening to my quick catch-up. It has been a really therapeutic thing to do and I miss this. And if this resonates with you in some way, share this with someone who may be interested in what I do. Or just retweet it or something…