I realize that there’s a lot going on right now that doesn’t fit anywhere in my comfort zone. It has made me outrageously uncomfortable. Through it all, I have taken solace in the fact that I have taken chances I don’t think I would have ever taken.
I’m not a big fan of moving out of my comfort zone. I eat my candy a specific way, groups of two or three every time. I eat Chipotle as a burrito turned upside down made in a bowl with a knife and a fork. Even the concept of writing usually had me putting out one article a month.
Nowadays my comfort zone is radically uncomfortable. I write up articles almost weekly and have just started doing it by speech like I’m doing right now. I recorded myself doing video for an autism conference. I gave out a quote that was featured in the Washington Post. I did my first podcast. (Just in case you were wondering, I still eat my candy and Chipotle the same way. I’m not a monster.)
I want to clarify that I everything I have previously mentioned was outside of MY comfort zone. Sometimes I do things and they’re not big wins. Some fill me with regret. Sometimes all I can take away from some experiences is that I tried. Some days I think I did great and I failed horribly. Other times I think I did horrible and did great. A lot of times I look calm and I’m internally screaming.
So maybe someone has something that is daunting or terrifying that they must do in this vastly shifting world. From me, I offer nothing but support. I continue to stand by an old saying: Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
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- March 4th is Weird Pride DayWeird is not a word solely pointed at Autistic people, but most of us have had at word used as an insult. Weird Pride Day is March 4, and it is a declaration of acceptance and embracing of what is eccentric, different, or otherwise at odds with the status quo.
- Double human rights action against culture’s acceptance of violenceBoth fair minds and cynical minds have logic behind being them, different logics; which is why different camps of autistics have gone both those ways. There can be no clearer marker between the 2, than attitudes to the existence of violence. I have met autistics who enjoyed revolting laddish chats about gang or comedy violence […]
- The Gatekeeping of Diagnostic Dinosaurs: Autism, neurophobia, confirmation bias, and internalized ableismUnderstanding about autism in adults is sparse. Many psychologists and psychiatrists receive only a single paragraph of education about autism in all of grad school, creating a human rights crisis for undiagnosed adults.
- My review of the Freak Factor: Discovering Uniqueness by Flaunting Weakness - March 4, 2021
- Imposter Syndrome: Life Behind a Mask - September 22, 2020
- Expanding my comfort zone - August 21, 2020
3 Responses
Loved this post! The donation link doesn’t seem to be working (at least for me!). Cheers
If you go to my Twitter page, it’s the buymeacoffee link
Great read! Each one of us has our own boundaries that delineate our comfort zone, I believe that there isn’t a one-size-fit-all comfort zone model, but what people must know is that all the comfort zon is concerned with is keeping you inside of it! I wrote an article on this subject titled ‘Want an adventure? Break free from your comfort zone’ – https://authorjoannereed.net/want-an-adventure-break-free-from-your-comfort-zone/. Fee free to check it out!