Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Janet McDonald's avatar

You are correct. My niece, who has been diagnosed with ADHD, refers to herself and her daughter with autism as "neuro-spicy" and it is a great word, with joy and humour and the recognition that the flavoursome herbs that make up the spicy-bit are ongoingly tangled in our mouths, as they are inside our heads and bodies. Trying to extricate the 11 herbs and spices in fried chicken takes science to dissect, as it is too with neuro-spicy-ness. It's what it means to be more authentically human... and it is traumatic, of course it is, but we must aim for better words, better ways to describe these experiences because so often they are shared in varying frequencies across the body politic. Because I am a boring old arsehole who still adores Nick Cave, I want to share what he says in a recent Red Right Hand post (Issue #291, July 2024) regarding the "unkind moments" we inhabit in life...

"Our humanness is not given to us. Instead, it requires our participation in its construction and realisation, which often comes about through collapse or calamity. We rummage through the chaos of our inner worlds, through our multitude of selves, to discover what we are, what we wish to be, and our authentic relationship with the world. This process requires a kind of winnowing of those selves and the dispensing of any that are no longer of service to the work of becoming fully human. We must separate the wheat from the chaff. This is a necessary but painful form of spiritual renovation – to discard those ancient and destructive versions of oneself and become an actual person, unique among other people. We must do this lest we be frozen in a stasis of the soul".

Winnowing is such an old word that literally means to blow the wind through the wheat to separate the edible bits from the chaff... isn't this what you are talking about, Dave? A winnowing of what the bits and pieces of life are made up of: rejecting those that are no longer useful, and adopting those that lead us somewhere new, even though these can be stimulated from hurtful events?

Thanks for another great post!

Expand full comment
Stephanie Medlin's avatar

This spoke so much to my experience becoming a parent! I worked in the education system for 10 years - I was well versed in the traits and strengths of my neurodivergent students - but it took watching this experience in my own child that made me realise how much I had overlooked these traits in myself.

Fantastic piece, David.

Thank you.

Expand full comment
2 more comments...

No posts