Living with Reckless Obsession

Did you know that the maximum number of accounts you can follow on Instagram is 7,500?

My partner likes to joke that they first knew I was 'something special' when I told them that I had to unfollow someone on Insta before I could follow them back. Over 2 years later (and after multiple unfollowing sprees to eliminate defunct accounts), I still follow over 7,000 accounts.

I consider myself to be a passionate person in that I love a heck of a lot of things: literature, film, television, music, visual art, fashion, animals. Seems like a lot, right? That's only the tip of the iceberg, considering this is just some of the categories I'm interested in, and there are dozens of sub-categories beneath every one. I'm a Jill-of-All-Trades, through and through, something that's all fun and games, until it's not.

Loving so much makes it very hard to focus on any one particular area. Is that why I ended up getting a degree in General Studies? Yep. Is this why it took me 10 years to finally share my debut novel with the world? In part.

I've found navigating my passions to be particularly challenging when it comes to marketing my book. I have so many ideas that it's hard to pin them down and bring them to fruition. It also doesn't help that I'm a chronically uncool individual: you can only get so far on social media when your natural demeanor has the power to make people cringe.

In less than 3 months, the world will formally meet Alison Mayhew. From the first page, it is evident that Alison's array of interests and academic indecision are elements that impact her daily life. While Alison is not based on me, these traits are heavily inspired by my own experiences.

Alison is neurodivergent, but her exact diagnoses are left to the reader's imagination. Writing about Alison's struggles, however, gave me better insight into my own neurodivergence. My partner, who has a classic case of ADHD, suspects that I may have ADHD as well. I disagreed at first. I thought, "How can I have ADHD if I'm so good at focusing that I can zone out everything else? I just have to bounce between topics on the regular when I get bored before eventually returning to them later..."

I clearly have more learning to do. Fortunately, learning is something I do best. In the meantime, you'll see me here again when I next have something important to say. Despite the fact that a heck of a lot is going on in my life at the moment, I've found myself to be strangely silent. Perhaps my head is too loud, and I simply need a place for quiet.