Blame the Amygdala
Like many, I have come to understand that I am neurodivergent – somewhere in the autism /ADHD neurocloud /mindspace /state of being, etc.
There is a lot to be said for the act of writing as a means to organize one’s thoughts, but also the experimentation with different narratives and the research required to understand thought and behavior makes it rewarding. Much of my writing from the early days until now has been about mental health. I think the writer quickly becomes a psychologist (of sorts).
I started researching and writing about psychopathy, serial killers, and personality disorders.
I can still remember coming across a study from 2000 by the renowned neuroscientist, Adrian Raine, demonstrating that those with Antisocial Personality Disorder had differing amounts of gray and white matter in their brains (than the non disordered). This idea of physical and structural differences for people who engaged in pathologically different behavior was fascinating, because the first immediate question is, “Do those differences have anything to do with their behavior?” This question is closely followed by, “If their brain is different, is it still their fault if they do bad things?” These are the questions that start careers.
I have always been fascinated by the brain; I somewhat disagree that the brain is an organ, because I think it might be better classified as a system of organs/organelles. Every single human who has ever existed or will ever exist will have had / will have a vastly different brain, and even within that same brain it will have had / will have millions of subtle differences moment-to-moment. The brain has billions of neurons with trillions of synapses, which to me gives it a kind of infinity.
I draw heavily on mental health and psychological perspectives in my nonfiction and I experiment broadly with narrative and experience in my fiction.
In nonfiction, I like to provide critiques and different perspectives on common aspects of culture, and in fiction I’m not all that bothered if the mental state of the narrator falls apart. My writing is biased towards a neurodivergent perspective, no doubt because that is closest to my own experience. I am convinced that the neurodivergent have some of the richest internal experience, as an attempt is made to understand what is going on inside so that appropriate responses can be had outside.
I hope that my ruminations about life and explorations through fiction provide a shared sense of understanding but also humor and entertainment.
I don’t really agree with charging for subscriptions. I still work on projects with the goal of getting paid, but the pieces on this website are accessible to all. Some pieces may vanish if they end up in a collection or published elsewhere, but otherwise it’s here. I’m happy to take feedback but also well-practiced in ignoring nonsense.
Thank you for reading.
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