Author: Tonya Lippert

I am an Oregon and Washington state lawyer who added law as a career to find an additional way to help people, particularly those marginalized. I value integrity, connection, compassion, kindness, adventure, courage, a willingness to make mistakes, and playfulness. I want to live, and to help others to live, a rich, full, and meaningful life. May you find my sharing of resources of use.

Stuck On Your Carousel?

I have long loved carousels and, for some reason, began to love them even more after reading Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes.  I find them enchanting.

But when I get stuck going round and round riding the same beast (or moving from one to another on the carousel), I know it’s time to get off it.

How does anybody do this? First you have to notice that you’re on your carousel. carousel_paris This means identifying what’s on it.

What thoughts, emotions, etc. are the beasts that call you to it? If you have ADHD, these may include boredom, frustration, the thought “Why bother?” or “I’ll do it later.”  Once you jump on one of these beasts, what does going round and round look like for you? Watching movies, playing video games, going online? Nothing wrong with these things.

If you know, though, that one round on the carousel is likely to lead to many others without your even noticing while it’s happening, consider seeing your carousel from a distance.

When you are off it, go ahead and try to create a visual of your carousel, including what thought, emotion, memory, etc. each beast represents and what behavior follows.  Then when you jump on your carousel, you have a better chance of noticing this and choosing whether to keep riding or step off.  And, unlike the poor souls of Bradbury’s story, you’ll be only minutes or hours older.

 

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To get things started, add sugar…a spoonful or more

Just the other day, my husband played this song to our daughter, and I said, “Hey, Mary Poppins had it right.”  As a mental health therapist running groups for adults diagnosed with ADHD, I encourage members to have fun with their tasks as much as possirestaurant-coffee-cup-cappuccinoble.  Turn up the pleasure, excitement, interest.  Some will work outside or somewhere they find pleasant, some pair a reward with tasks and some work with others, even just as company.  Some do all of these.

If you struggle to start something, remember Mary Poppins.  And that some of us need a little more sugar than a spoonful.

 

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“It’s like a room full of puppies and candies.”

ADHD infoChildren often say it best.

My child said this as he heard me speaking about ADHD.

I asked him what he meant, and he said it’s what a room seems like to him.  I asked him what an empty room seems like, and he described how he will notice the shapes, curves, and corners of the walls; bumps on the ceiling; light seeping under the door; and the texture of the floor, adding that carpet’s like a maze of threads.  He concluded, “Even an empty room is filled with so much.  It’s insane.”

 

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