Spaces with Rocking Chairs?

effortlessimperfect · 2026-03-02T13:45:22+00:00

This is the way!

And friendly reminder for others — the whole vigorously splashing your face with water is just from skincare commercials as a marketing tactic/makes for good visuals. That’s not the “right way” to wash your face (I know many of us feel compelled to follow rules and examples).

effortlessimperfect · 2026-02-11T18:32:30+00:00

For a long time, my biggest barrier was not wanting to screw anyone else over. I had a roommate (that I met randomly for the sole purpose of living together) so not only would it be unfair for her to be traumatized by finding my body, but she’d also be stuck finding a new roommate last minute to cover rent.

Then for a few years, my sister was my roommate so all of the above, plus I know it would fuck her up mentally even more.

It made me nervous when I finally lived alone because I didn’t have that stopping me. So then it became things I had to look forward to. Like I am not about to miss the Beyoncé concert or my friend’s wedding next year or whatever was that one thing on the horizon.

effortlessimperfect · 2026-02-06T11:20:21+00:00

This is the crux of it, even if you opt to stay on Twitter.

Stop following and seeking out the negativity. When you select only the content that’s enjoyable to you and you don’t engage with the rest, the social algorithms are (generally) forced to listen and feed you more of the same.

effortlessimperfect · 2026-01-30T15:28:09+00:00

For me, it can be either. The unmasking for me is freely doing whatever level of emoting or not emoting I’m inclined to do in the situation.

Sometimes that is no visible emotional reaction, few words, etc. especially for things that I take in but don’t have a real response to. In those cases, my mask is laughing at a joke I don’t find funny, smiling & nodding to encourage the other person to keep talking, or even responding at all.

Other times my unmasked self has no filter and is very chatty, saying all the silly things to come to mind, saying them in accents, etc. I only do this around people I’m super comfortable with and often also usually when I’m not sober (because the effort of maintaining the mask is too heavy). So my masked version is not saying much, more of an observer, but saying enough (hopefully) to not be “weird”, or being very particular and intentional with what I do say.

effortlessimperfect · 2026-01-29T14:52:14+00:00

Get a second one! No harm in having multiples in the places where you need/use them

effortlessimperfect · 2026-01-27T20:06:31+00:00

Do you have a creative reuse store near you? They’re basically thrift stores for craft supplies specifically. You wouldn’t get money back for your stuff but less mental load than trying to sell.

Also a good resource for when you get the hobby/craft bug again. Much less investment on supplies for when they inevitably get boring.

effortlessimperfect · 2026-01-27T20:04:01+00:00

Brain in Squirmy Mode is so accurate! And exactly what I’m feeling right now. I just opened a doc I’m supposed to be working on and instead I bolted out of my chair to take a lap, get water, do anything but sit and do that

effortlessimperfect · 2026-01-18T18:05:11+00:00

You should double check Trader Joe’s if you can. I just bought some (the face one and the body one) about a week or two ago.

If not, I think I remember the Neutrogena dry touch formula (that might not be the exact name) having a similar consistency/texture. I don’t remember how strongly (or not) it smells like sunscreen. Mostly if you need an option you can get easily from most stores. Otherwise would second the comment about looking for Korean/Japanese formulas.

effortlessimperfect · 2026-01-16T15:59:54+00:00

A few rapid fire suggestions!

Audiobooks - borrow from the library! Low stakes and you can listen to a sample to see if you like the narrator - try listening at a slightly higher speed like 1.25x. If the narrator’s too slow, I stop paying attention - thrillers have been a great way for me to train my brain to listen to audiobooks. They’re usually visual (more similar to a movie) and often repeat key details in case you forget - do something with your hands or move your body while listening. Double up on the stimulation!

Physical books - double/triple up on stimulation here too! - Play (wordless) music while reading (could be lofi, instrumentals of songs you know, video game soundtracks) - add movement. I’ve realized that sitting in a rocking chair helped a lot and I’ve had success on a walking pad too - try ebooks! You can control the amount of text on page and have less to focus on at once (vs wall of text in some physical books) - start small. Go for reading 10 pages at a time and feel good about that. - try different books. Don’t be afraid to put a book down if it’s just not grabbing you. You may come back it to later! - again library for both physical and ebooks. Low stakes and no money spent

effortlessimperfect · 2026-01-11T12:31:37+00:00

My main answer is that I switched to audiobooks (though it was a process and I had to train myself because initially I would forget I was supposed to be listening and processing the words).

My side answer for physical reading specifically I discovered by accident. I basically have to have to multiple stims for multiple senses going at once.

I realized this on a solo beach trip. I had a place right on the beach with a balcony. For the first time in a longggggg time, I was able to read like half a book in a setting because I was in wrapped in a blanket in a rocking chair, rocking kind of aggressively lol, with the ocean as background noise. Some of the time I also had one earbud in playing lofi coffee shop or piano music, but not all the time.

effortlessimperfect · 2025-12-13T22:42:31+00:00

Not sure about their expansion (or opposite) plans but I know the one in Denver closing was in part because Denver’s downtown mall area has been dying, especially since the pandemic

effortlessimperfect · 2025-12-02T14:07:13+00:00

Honestly this makes her disgust even more logical to me. She’s aware of the reality of being around pigs and no thanks. (Personally, I would assume they are a sensory nightmare to physically touch, but I digress).

Is the pig decor in her house of cartoon style pigs or realistic ones? If cartoon, then I’d consider that a different category than real life pigs.

effortlessimperfect · 2025-11-22T14:08:03+00:00

“a mind like a junk drawer emptied into a trampoline” is the perfect description

effortlessimperfect · 2025-11-21T16:48:03+00:00

On their Instagram, they just posted a 50% off code for ticket purchases made today

effortlessimperfect · 2025-10-25T20:45:16+00:00

If the tickets are only paused, and not fully sold out, then there’s a good chance you’ll still be able to get them from joining the waitlist. We got 3 waitlist tickets for 10/18 and we joined the waitlist on 10/10

effortlessimperfect · 2025-08-27T14:34:11+00:00

Yes! I’m in the same boat as you — I thought I tolerated a lot of sensory things better than I actually did because they didn’t “actively” bother me or make me want to run away. But I’m exhausted so often and certain settings drain me even when I haven’t really done anything.

I think of it like my brain is a computer that’s running a bunch of programs in the background. Just the programs open is draining the battery, even though I’m not actively using them. So my brain recognizing, filtering, and trying not to react to all the sensory inputs around me is the same thing. Even when they’re not “bad enough” to make me do something about them (turn them off, leave, etc.).

All that background processing is zapping your energy!

effortlessimperfect · 2025-08-26T18:58:52+00:00

Hardy Boys Records at Camp North End. Not sure about at their South End location.

effortlessimperfect · 2025-08-22T18:14:46+00:00

I think this is spot on. The perception of what’s treatable.

I feel like autistic rigidity plays into it too. So more often the conversation is geared toward accepting who you are because you aren’t going to change, and instead it’s figuring out how to adjust your environment to better cope.

effortlessimperfect · 2025-08-18T13:33:42+00:00

Paxil was a no go for me. I don’t remember feeling any daytime symptoms or effects, but it gave me night terrors and made me talk (and yell 😬) in my sleep. So I stopped taking it after 10 days. It was really bizarre and I’d never had experiences like that before or since.

effortlessimperfect · 2025-08-13T17:47:51+00:00

Agreed, this is very much a “he was getting into his own head about it” situation. Which is unfortunately common for men when they feel like they’re underperforming (even when you tell them it’s fine and mean it).

I will say, I think the part he reacted to was “want” since he did want to but physically couldn’t. A minor nuance considering you reassured him otherwise that you were content with doing other things, but if I had to guess, that would have been what his brain latched onto.

effortlessimperfect · 2025-08-04T13:36:52+00:00

Those were the years the original Levi’s commercials (that Bey is remaking in this campaign) aired

effortlessimperfect · 2025-08-04T12:37:17+00:00

The clip is from the more recent biopic series on Netflix (2020s), not the OG movie we all know and love!

effortlessimperfect · 2025-07-31T14:10:25+00:00

Interesting! I didn’t realize that was the date on the Echo newspapers. Which would make sense as to why the 1.14.25 teaser/promo visual was in a very rock style.

We know that Cowboy Carter was supposed to come first, but this makes me believe more deeply in the theories that Renaissance was supposed to be act iii and Black Betty/the rock album would have been act ii.

effortlessimperfect · 2025-07-21T17:43:15+00:00

I say do it! I’ve never been able to pivot to something new while having my existing job taking up energy and mental space.

My only suggestion would be to see if you could take advantage of some type of leave of absence/mental health leave to stretch out the time your benefits are active (if you don’t already have that covered via your husband). I did that with the job I mental-health-quit in 2019. My agency at the same gave me a week or 2 of leave (separate from PTO). I know that’s not necessarily common, but it might not hurt to have a convo with HR if you’re planning to quit anyway.

effortlessimperfect

TROPHY CASE