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 …

• Awesomewhat

  • Thank you!

    • Yeehawesome!

  • Wonderful Wednesday

  • Today’s Beany-full Summary:

Awesomewhat

The vast majority of our lives seems to be quotidian moments of taking care of others and ourselves in the form of organizing, cooking, cleaning, toileting, showering, drinking enough water, planning, walking, driving, talking, filling trash bags, emptying trash cans.

I’ve also been contemplating awe, and what that means in a world full of incredible wonders and also incredible injustices and frustrations.

It doesn’t seem like awe has a chance of winning.

Maybe that’s not the point right now.

Maybe it’s enough to know that the angels sang at Jesus’ birth even if we don’t hear them tonight.

Maybe we’re shepherds cleaning up muck and our job is to stop for a moment, breathe in the beauty of the choir, say hi to Jesus, and get back to the fields.

Faithfulness with pinpoints of awesome light.

I mean, wouldn’t we be exhausted if we oohed and ahhed every moment?

Awed every moment? As it is, don’t we just have a lot of odd moments?

We know that experiencing awe is good for us. It’s not possible every second of every day, but we need more of it. Here’s more about that from this article in Inc.:

And what does this have to do with neurodivergent beany brains, you ask.

Neurodivergencies and depression are not the same thing, but some studies show that folks who are autistic are four times more likely to have depression than neurotypical people. There are lots of reasons for this, and one of them must be that the world caters to neurotypical people. Those of us with neurodivergencies have to expend a lot more energy to figure things out and to mask.

I find that the onset of winter is a particularly trying time.

It’s darker.

It’s colder.

There are mixed emotions around the holidays for me.

So to counteract some of that, I try to focus on pinpricks of awe:

• I make a winter-fun list to have things to look forward to.

• Letting myself get cozy under a lap blanket in the living room with the Christmas lights.

• Staring at the Christmas tree with so many ornaments that have special meaning to me.

• Getting comfortable with the quiet of winter (unless it’s hailing on the skylight - ha).

• Reading an Advent book each year (this year it’s Christine Aroney-Sine’s book, Celtic Advent: Following an Unfamiliar Path).

• I enjoy the colors of Christmas.

• I remember special times like driving around my hometown of Orlando looking at light displays with family and friends-who-are-like-family.

• I let myself savor the flavors of feast foods. I have to remind myself to slow down and appreciate the bites.

Where do you find moments of awe? How do you find them? Does it help fight off the blues?

My grown-up Christmas list (thank you, Amy Grant) for you all is that this month you will experience awe, realize it, and chew on it.

There’s a lot to chew on lately. May some of it be awesome and sweet.

Thank you!

Like a colorful red and green paper chain for December, the next link after awe might be gratitude.

Sometimes it’s hard to say thanks, especially as right now I and many friends are enduring many struggles. (I know someone with one win that I can’t share, but it’s a good one and it’s making me smile.)

Sometimes looking for things to give thanks for is like looking in the dark.

Sometimes it’s too hard and I would never tell someone that they have to be grateful.

But if we can reach for a positive, let’s do it.

The science says gratefulness is good for us, and from that linked article here are five ways it helps:

• Boosts feel-good chemicals

• Regulates stress 

• Trains our brain to be more attuned to positivity

• Enhances neural connectivity in the parts of the brain associated with social bonding

• Improves self-esteem.

I don’t know about you, but I could use all of the above and especially some good ol’ neural connectivity.

Do you see the laundry clips above? That is something that I’m grateful for because it came from Malawi via a Malawian friend who lived here in Kanazawa and who moved back to Germany with her husband a couple months ago. Whenever I look at it, I think of Maureen and Robin, and I smile.

Look around. Maybe there’s even someone or something in the room with you right now that could enhance your neural connectivity and help regulate your stress.

I’m grateful for you, my Beany Brain readers, even if you’re not in the same room with me. I feel your beaniness. Thank you.

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. Advent started! I have bittersweet feelings about this season—we are in a dark time with the sun going down very early and the skies mostly gray, pouring rain, sleeting, hailing, or (soon) snowing here in Ishikawa, but the candles of Advent and the meaning behind them—Jesus is coming—really warms my heart. Light, hope, joy, peace, and longer days are coming.

2. I did finish my November month of poetry! I wrote one a day with a total goal of 3000 words. I got to 3045! Go, me.

3. I was sad that a bedside paper lamp of mine died this week (the switch got to be faulty and dangerous), but I’ve moved another small lamp up from the living room and I’m finding it even cozier at night when I’m reading. I now have to use my handheld reading lamp (it’s shaped like a little person) to read, but the effect of both “new” bedside lamp plus reading-light person is so soft and enveloping. Yay for sensory wins.

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:

• Awe is good for body and soul and mind. Neurodivergent folks are more likely to experience depression, and experiencing and acknowledging moments of wonder can help.

• Genuine gratefulness can be generative. Don’t force it. Times might be tough and I’m with you. But have a look around and see what you can come up with.

• 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.

If you’re enjoying Beany Brain, please share with a friend or seventeen at www.beanybrain.com. Cheers big time!