Beany Brain: loving our jumping-bean brains!

Welcome to this issue of the Beany Brain! I hope today’s newsletter will bounce us up as we contemplate the upsides and challenges of being neurodivergent, a little beauty, some creativity, and just general yeehawesomeness.

Table of Contents

• Beany Brain: loving our jumping-bean brains!

  • Welcome to this issue of the Beany Brain! I hope t …

• Neurospicy

  • Penelotree

    • Yeehawesome!

  • Wonderful Wednesday

  • Today’s Beany-full Summary:

Neurospicy

When you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person (so the saying goes).

We all disagree on whether to use the term neurospicy to describe ourselves or not.

That’s OK. We can agree to disagree.

This world is spicy enough to contain all of our divergent and neurodivergent opinions.

(Speaking of spiciness, I chose the word “spicy” to be my one word for 2020. We can all see how that turned out. It ended up being like a 50 on the heat-level index. No more of that nonsense, please.)

Personally I’d rather think of how my brain works as neurospicy than just chaotic.

I don’t think it diminishes my mind’s value or worth or intelligence.

Neither do I consider neurospicy to be just a cutesy term.

It describes a very real situation that I deal with in very real ways during very real moments and days of frustration, confusion, embarrassment, anger (especially at injustice), and the ever-present autistic tendency toward thinking in hard black-and-whiteness.

And yet…

There is a plus side.

Not a Pollyanna-everything-is-happy-even-in-pain side.

But I do get to notice things that others might not. I get to experience a different kind of joy.

I feel things very deeply and I can picture images in my mind clearly (good and bad, so I have to be very careful). My imagination is colorful and prolific.

And I like spicy food anyway. Spicy life just matches up.

Pass the sriracha.

Penelotree

Isn’t she a beaut.

I thought of putting Penelotree’s loveliness in my Yeehawesome section, but I decided that Her Branchiness needed her own post.

She lives just down the street from us on a little grassy perch held up by concrete, and every day when I walk by I say hello.

I’ve seen Penelotree in every season and in all kinds of weather. She never looks shaken even when she’s shaking.

Penelotree is calm.

She’s beautiful even in winter with no leaves.

I know that she’s still alive with snow on the ground and on her branches.

We can’t see her roots but Penelotree is upright and strong, so I know they’re deep and wide.

She doesn’t freak out when her leaves start changing, worried about winter coming. It’s just another season. (There might be a certain human that walks by and greets Penelotree who is actually the one dreading winter.)

Every season comes and every season passes.

Penelotree is beautiful in each one; there’s something about the charcoal-ness of her branches against white snow. There’s something about rain dripping off the leaves. There’s something about new leaf buds popping out in their bright fresh green-ness. There’s something about the deeper green of the summery leaves, and the red tips after that.

Someday I will work up the courage to climb the concrete wall and give her a hug (I don’t know whose property she guards).

In the meantime, I muse. I dream of trees. And I talk to them.

Yeehawesome!

Yeehawesome! is a happy-brain roundup in each issue of Beany Brain. What’s happening that’s good in brain land? What’s bringing me joy?

1. Voting! The US State Department estimates that there are about 9 million of us US citizens living overseas, and yes, we are US citizens, and yes, we are eligible to vote. As someone who loves research and deep dives, politics is a passion (it didn’t used to be, but gosh, 2015 sure changed things for me). As a US citizen I have so much to be grateful for and so much to speak up about and to vote for and against. I have filled in my absentee ballot and it’s ready to go when my husband’s and son’s are. Got the vote; got the sticker. (Update: Since writing the previous bit, I mailed our ballots to the US Embassy in Tokyo and they will fly to the US of A in a diplomatic pouch soon. Lucky ducks.)

2. The library crawl I did for my birthday. I loooooove libraries. And I chose books that coordinate with my one-word theme for the year: fly. I also visited my favorite store (an import store called Malaika) and bought myself a flamingo umbrella (my old one broke a couple years ago) and a painted wooden owl decoration plus a fabric flamingo for hanging on our Christmas tree. Fly, little birdies.

3. This article from the BBC about an MI5 employee who is autistic. “Liam” only found out he was autistic after experiencing autistic burnout, but getting a diagnosis and rest and time off then excellent support at work after he returned has led to a good outcome. He’s even had a promotion since then. He said, “Being neurodiverse brings strength to MI5.” I would also argue that neurodiversity brings strength to our world. (I also understand that not every employer will be as supportive of neurodivergent folks as the UK government in the form of MI5. Are they hiring?)

Beany Brownie Points and Extra Bonus Funniness

Wonderful Wednesday

Wonderful Wednesday was a day once a year in college when they would suddenly and surprisingly call off all classes and we’d play all day. The cafeteria provided special fun food and we’d do stuff outside like slip ‘n slides and jello wrestling in sumo suits. This segment of Beany Brain is dedicated to that memory of silliness and fun—no words, just a photo from the week that I’ve taken or found that reminds me to let the joy in. Since Beany Brain is published on Wednesday every week (at least, Wednesday in Japan), I hope you enjoy this Wonderful Wednesday.

Today’s Beany-full Summary:

• Neurospicy can be a divisive term in the neurodivergent community, but I like it.

• I have a favorite tree that I love named Penelotree. Trees can be good for the soul.

• Go forth in Beany joy. What will help you feel yeehawesome this week?

Thank you for reading this installment of Beany Brain! You’re very welcome to hop on by any old time.

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