cough cough cough
I have the flu. It makes me want to rest more. Maybe relax in bed. Keep working on finishing certain books I began reading. However, I have to prepare for an up coming trip as well.
personal life update
Dating someone, but not exclusive. I'm not so sure about compatibility again, even if I really like them. Im not really actively looking, but dating apps are just fucking cancer.
I believe that my fears are justified in this society Im currently in. People that I meet feel so strange to me. I tend to wonder, why they believe in the things they do with such fevor and hostility. Not just the hotility where they will attack you in board daylight, but also the kind where they want to erode what you are because they think they know better or that what I feel is automatically not justified and dismissed. I believe our feelings shouldnt dominate and sway our behaviors because feelings come and go and it can do so rapidly, like the most sentitive seismometer. But that doesn't make the tool broken. Why do you feel that way? If logic and reasoning able to calm it down? If not, maybe it is a sign. Just wait and see if you can find out what your instincts are trying to tell you and why. If you cannot figure it out, that doesnt mean you have to override it everytime. Don't do anything you don't feel comfortable doing even if you aren't completely sure why.
I don't tend to fit in with any group of people. Not because I haven't tried. I just don't feel like the majority of people are like me at all. I cannot fit in with them mentally. Easily, the outfits and mannerisms are easily to get by, but that isn't what I want. I don't want to feel like I have to keep holding up mirrors to not be attacked. People have told me several times I don't have to do that, but I feel like I do still. Its like people who have told others to "be themselves" only to recieve backlash when they actually do. Perhaps, in my case, it is just a quiet exclusion I believe. They just are unsure that I am one of them, so they dont prefer to include me. However, when I mirror people, they make assuptions about who I am. The project the best qualities onto me only because they like the mirror.
The places that did at least tolerate me where almost always places that were unfiltered, truly freeing places to talk and express yourself. With that comes the ugly, offensive, and morally reprehensible. But it felt the place I could truly unmask, become a strange chaotic kaleidoscopic exploration of being. Generally, I already know what I am and it is difficult to believe it. The exploration I think is a strange rebellion or defense against a society that keeps molding you in built-in coersive ways, if this is the case, then I have to look into PDA more. Really, I should leave all this heavy lifting to my doc, right? But he gives me tasks/homework to do anyway, so maybe not? I have no idea.
Somewhat Related videos
In one of these videos a man mentioned how it feels awkward to socialize and that it is tiring. For me, I just feel lost. Interally, Im just squinting and wondering, "what tf do they mean by this?" like the classic meme; just smile and wave boys, just smile and wave. He also talks about how socializing isn't enjoyable for him. In my case, it is enjoying for me when I get this dopamine hit from having a deep conversation, even if it is tense. But I will start to shut down in group settings. I've experienced moments where in large vcs too many people are talking and I start to zone out or dissociate, not knowing what I was doing. However, him talking about how his mind can get stuck on things, anything, that is extremely relatable. It is most terrifying when it gets fixated on dark things. When it get fixated on the positive things, Id smile like an idiot. If someone like Nietzsche was still alive and saw me he might wonder what I could possibly be so dumbly happy about; he might suspect I had this slave mentality and coping skills that kept me complacent in a society that is bleek. No, Nietzsche, Im just replaying the moment that I won in a very low stakes petty debate with my ex. Of course, the ex would never admit to concedeing, but I knew I had won. Nietzsche might look at me and say, "That's what you're thinking about? ... You're a demented bitch aren't you?" Id reply with obnoxious ownership, "Naturally." or "Duhh".
Anyway, he also mentioned delayed processing including emotions, which is very relatable to me. In some cases, it can take a week or a month for the feeling to fully process and make its way to the surface, or maybe what some psychologists might describe like, "emerge from the unconscious to the conscious".
Echolalia, is also something I do, and sometimes these days it is also very delayed. Like saying something like, 'chicklegrin'. Where have I heard this before? I believe I have emotions and lost memories tied to it where it was such a funny thing to say. How these things resurface every blue moon is strange.
a memory
In a townhouse built in the 1990s, an elderly Chinese woman turned on the vacuum in the living room at the bottom of the stairs. Had she known English well enough—and had she not been paid so generously—she might not have been there at all, caring for the household of her workaholic daughter, who was endlessly studying somewhere else.
Footsteps rushed down the stairs in a frustrated huff, yelling that it was “too loud,” assuming the old Chinese grandmother couldn’t understand. The gangly child grabbed the cord and yanked it from the wall furiously. The grandmother shook the vacuume, thinking it was just broken. The grandaughter repeated that it was too loud, then went back upstairs with an attitude of satisfaction, as if she had put an end to the problem. The old grandmother, somewhat flabberghasted, just plugged it back in and continued. She couldn't just let the creep of dust take over, can she?
Deep gutteral frustraited noises from upstairs competed with the vaccume. The vacuuming won easily.
How I understand the ASD levels
(btw Im NOT a professional. This is just a journal for my random ass thoughts which may or nay not be accurate, keep that in mind)
ASD levels are correlated to how much assistance is needed for the individual. Level 1 means little to none. Level 2 means provide support than average. Level 3 is requiring most signifigant support.
In a very general way, subtypes of ASD/ADHD, like aspergers, that mightve been seen in the DSM4 can be categorized into these levels, but not always. For instance, I can imagine that someone with aspergers might actually need more support than the average aspie. Hopefully, that gives more flexability for professionals to diagnose people with what they need.
There is an issue here however. Not only is that the DSM is utilized for insurance purposes to get money, which means the DSM is likely heavily influenced by certain industries to gain something from this. The DSM4/5 is very unfortunately shifting to be what a professional is proscribing to the individual rather than just being as accurate in their observations as possible. I've heard the ICD-11 is better, but I'd have to look into that. (Will I? Definatly not intentionally. Just if my brain happens to take me there, I might mention it.)
Happy New Year
When I began writing this entry, I didn't think about how it was the last day of 2025.
No matter who you are, good luck in the new year. Wishing everyone the best.