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 …

• Community and Communion

  • Alexithymia

    • Yeehawesome!

  • Wonderful Wednesday

  • Today’s Beany-full Summary:

Community and Communion

Our dear friend hosted a casual tea ceremony for us the other day; it’s a great time to stop, sit, breathe, notice, and pray.

Did you know that hidden Christians in Japan used to use the tea ceremony as a time for communion?

And anyway, I just love matcha! I’m a sucker for bitter flavors like green tea, matcha, black coffee or tea, chicory (as a coffee substitute), and the vegetable called bitter melon in English and goya in Japanese.

When I’m feeling bitter in my spirit, I can remember and be thankful for the great cloud of witnesses around me, past and present and future.

One good way for me to do this is to meet folks in real life, and when I can’t, or I need input or encouragement related to being neurodivergent, I go to my content-specific Facebook groups or Instagram pages where I can not only learn but also contribute.

It’s virtual vision for life. As they say, nothing can beat in-person friendships, but when you’re living overseas or you crave certain soul food, these online groups are a good gift too.

So, in no particular order, here are some of the pages I follow or groups I’m in. If any of these sound like they might resonate with you, check them out.

I’ll start with Instagram:

• @theanxietyhealer

• @myautismsqueeks

• @neurodivergent_lou

• @thrive_withmeg

• @morganharpernichols

Facebook groups:

• Christian Neurodivergent Women

• Autism Inclusivity

• Autistic Girls Network Group

• Autism Late Diagnosis/Self-Identification Support and Education

• Autistics Worldwide

• NeuroWild

• Tell me you’re neurodivergent without telling me you’re neurodivergent

I hope one or more of these pages/groups lend you a bit more support if you need it. Grab a cup of matcha and dig in.

Alexithymia

“Alexithymia is a term you may not have heard before. But it describes something many people experience: difficulties in identifying, distinguishing and expressing emotions.” (From the article “What Is Alexithymia? A Guide to The Hidden Experience of Millions”)

If you’re wondering, as I was, even how to pronounce it, here you go.

They reckon about 10% of the entire population deals with alexithymia to some degree, and as you can probably guess, it’s a much higher percentage among us autistic folks.

It’s related to interoception issues, which is when you can sometimes have trouble recognizing basic bodily needs such as hunger, thirstiness, or the need to go to the bathroom.

Obviously, if alexithymia makes it tricky to understand yourself, then it is also harder to understand what’s going on around you, to interpret it, and to make “appropriate” (neurotypically-expected) facial expressions. This is one reason why Robert Roberson was convicted of murdering his own daughter even though she had been found to have had pneumonia and was given medicines that could have contributed to her death. He didn't make the facial expressions that the ER staff thought he should have in his grief, and he was later diagnosed as autistic. (This case really gets my goat, and I fight against the death penalty frequently and with justice-energy.) He has now been on death row in Texas for over 20 years.

If you are neurodivergent and suffer with alexithymia and neurotypical societal expectations, you may not have had as sad and as dramatic an experience as Robert Roberson, but I’d bet that it affects you every day.

I find that if I can just realize what I’m feeling or experiencing, that can change a situation for the better. It often ends up that it hits me much, much later, even years later, and it leads to me wanting to go back and fix a situation or say something different. Or I might think back to certain incidents and just never understand what was going on.

Hindsight is 20/20, but it might not be if you have alexithymia!

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. Have you heard of NaNoWriMo? It’s National Novel Writing Month (every November). I joined the challenge but I decided that instead of writing a novel (I’ve already written one), I would write one poem each day for November. As of this writing (November 25), I’ve got one poem per day and I’m up to a word count of 2,551. I’m pretty proud of myself.

2. I learned from a friend recently that you can go into a hair salon (here in Japan, anyway) and ask them to just cut your bangs for a discounted price. I love having bangs again and as soon as they start even thinking about touching my eyebrows I’m back for a 780-yen bangs trim (bangs are “maegami” in Japanese). And cut hair doesn’t get everywhere—I only have to wash my face when I get home.

3. A Saturday play club called Enable Ability in the UK, funded by BBC Children in Need, facilitates fun for neurodivergent kids. Toby, aged 9, says, “I can't sit in certain places. They know that, so they let me sit in places that aren't noisy. They like, get me, they really get me.” This just warms my heart.

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:

• Communion and community come in different shapes and sizes. What helps you?

• Check out my list of Facebook groups and Instagram pages to follow if you so desire.

• Alexithymia is related to interoception issues and it’s when you find it tricky to realize or understand your own emotions.

• 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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