D.L. Recommends: Olympic Summer edition

Being weirdly into sports, laughing before bed, and more!

Hello and welcome to Healing is My Special Interest, the newsletter at the intersection of late-diagnosed neurodivergence and healing from high control environments. Today, since it’s the 5th Tuesday in a month, we have a list of things that I, D.L., recommend. Enjoy, and thanks so much for all of the support! I wouldn’t be able to do this newsletter without you :)

Hello everyone!

Well, we have almost made it to August, which means we are well on our way to surviving the summer here in the Pacific Northwest. The political news has been WILD for the U.S. recently and I am sort of just riding the waves . . . and continuing to do the work I do at STRONGWILLED which helps folks who grew up in a religious authoritarian movement find solidarity and build autonomy. As Trump continues to devolve into a dictator begging white evangelicals to vote for him, the folks who grew up in that movement and have left it deserve spaces where they can heal and process and learn the political history of the movement. 

But today, since we have 5 Tuesdays in July, I am going to do another one of my D.L. Recommends lists. 

As always, at the end I want to hear from you—what are you listening to / watching / eating these days? Let us know in the comments!

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But for now, without further ado, here it is:

D.L. Recommends: Summer Olympics Edition

Watching the Olympics

Stephen Nedoroscik was really giving off some hyperfixaion vibes at the Olympics and I loved it

Yes, I really do recommend watching it! Every few years I get super into sports and I feel like I am a part of this big collective of messy humans instead of my normal feelings which are usually revolve around me feeling like an alien. This year the opening ceremonies were VERY gay and weirdly bloody? I honestly really, really liked it. I was blissfully unaware that it was scandalizing all the Christians. As far as my favorite sports to watch, here they are (in no particular order): gymnastics (all of it), synchronized diving, freestyle swimming races, regular diving, and track and field.

Making your children watch the Olympics

Just kidding don’t make your kids do anything. But maybe leave some good snacks around and hype up the Olympic drama and see what happens? They just might get into it to.

Tomato sandwiches

Annual summer fixation food, I simply cannot leave them off this list. I feel so hungry for one right now and I’m sad that my area is not quite popping off with the tomatoes yet. But soon, very soon, I shall be eating these every day again.

Dropout TV

This used to be college humor I guess? Which was never my jam. But Sam Reich puts together some fabulous game shows using incredible improv comedians that truly never fail to amaze and delight me. I also think Dropout is super interesting because they are doing the subscription-based model right. They pay their crew and talent really well and they are not into capitalism for the sake of capitalism, and it really shows! You can watch a few of the Game Changer episodes for free on YouTube (like the one above) and get a sense for whether or not you will like it. Behind the paywall there is an incredible episode of Game Changer called Original Cast Recording where three improv actors make up the funniest, best musical ON THE SPOT.  It’s like . . . magic.

Laughing before going to sleep

I am someone who wakes up angry about injustice. Literally. Sometimes I wake myself up because I am so mad about something (usually James Dobson). By the time I get to the end of the day my brain is toast. So Krispin and I have a routine where we watch 30-50 minutes of funny things before I fall asleep (usually before 9:30!). Right now it is mostly Dropout TV episodes (see above). I swear this has got to be a somatic practice, right? Laughing your head off and then falling into a deep sleep. Aaaaaaand then waking up angry, and starting it all over again.  

Leaving 1 star google reviews for fatphobic doctors

Because it just feels good after having to sit through that old shite. 

The Perils of Lady Catherine DeBourgh by Claudia Gray

My favorite read of the summer thus far is the third book in the Mr. Darcy and Ms. Tilney mystery series. And this one is my favorite! Imagine if Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth had an autistic son who solved murder mysteries and fell in love? That’s what this series is all about! 

Taking a break from vegetable gardening

I just didn’t have it in me this year to do it. But my fruit and herbs are all doing great with pretty minimal gardening hours from me!

Making a pie with cherries from the cherry tree you planted 7 years ago

It still feels radical to me to put down roots and hope for the future and enjoy the present. Making a cherry pie (and blueberry pie, and strawberry pie) from fruit I grew MYSELF is just the best little self-care thing I do all summer. 

Making Christmas-y cookies in July

I recently made pecan sandies / Mexican wedding cookies for the first time ever and they were so easy and so delicious and even though it was hot as an air fryer in Portland it still tasted a teensy bit like Christmas at my house. 

Indulge in a little 90s nostalgia

I am currently watching Twister (the original movie¹!) and reading The Lost World by Michael Crichton. Both of them have parts that don’t age well, and both of them give me so much pleasure mostly due to nostalgia! If Michael Crichton was alive today I would love to just jabber to him about chaos theory, ya know?

Listening to electronic music

I think this is a kind of auditory stim for me? I have been really into Pinback and Ratatat and Daft Punk, but I am open to suggestions! It’s great for getting my body moving throughout the day when I feel stuck in my head

Skincare over makeup

I have not been into wearing make-up these days (although for special occasions it can be fun). I use a lip stain that is basically just a tiny shade darker than my normal lip tone and a moisturizing sunscreen and I am good to go. I’m using some stuff I bought from Costco that has snail enzymes in it or something (who knows if it works!) and I just started using Paula’s Choice exfoliant and it really does seem to help with how my skin looks/feels. 

Corgis

not my corgi, but the side eye is the same

Two years into having a dog for the first time ever as an adult, and I can confidently say getting Fern is one of the best things I have ever done for my mental health. Google “Corgi side eye” if you want to laugh at how often these little dogs give their humans the nervous stink eye.

Dahlias

They are my second-favorite flower (#1 goes to Peonies) and they simply make me happy every time I see them.

Listening to your body when it is exhausted

This one is hard for me to do personally, and yet I still highly recommend it. You don’t get a prize for pushing past your limits all the days of your lives. You only get this one life and this one body, and sometimes, when you have ignored your body for so, so long, it simply gives up. These days the simplest things push me over the edge into exhaustion, and I am trying to learn to honor that instead of lamenting it. 

Cardamom

I love it in my lattes, in my tea, in my pastries, in my sweets . . . Seriously I cannot get enough of this flavor.

Wiggling your toes

Do it. Do it right now. Wiggle them, stretch them out, give your toes some attention. Thank your feet for everything they do for you throughout the day. Doesn’t that feel great?

Being proud of yourself

This past week I had a nice moment of feeling proud that my project STRONGWILLED made it into Time magazine. Since I can’t really share any of my writing accomplishments with my extended family, I have been taking the time to feel proud of myself! I still wish I had outside sources of validation, but it is also really nice to continue to build up the skills of self-compassion for myself and that includes feeling a sense of pride in my hard work².

Playing silly little games on your phone

I am now slightly addicted to some matching games on my phone. Do I feel a tiny bit embarrassed about this? Yes. Is it better for me than doomscrolling on TikTok? Extremely YES. I will take these silly little games that don’t trigger me in any way, thank u. The one I currently love is called Seaside Escape and it is so ridiculous and it makes me happy.

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Ok I think that is all that I have today . . . I’m off to watch MORE gymnastics and judge olympic athletes from the comfort of my couch (while eating Cheetos, of course).

Let me know in the comments what you are recommending these days!

And what is your favorite Olympic sport to watch?

1. Twister is one million times better than Twisters. I said what I said.

2. Honestly this week I cried a bunch because STRONGWILLED is really resonating with a lot of people and on one hand that is great I guess but on the other hand it means that a lot of kids were exploited and abused in a political religious system that failed to protect them. Krispin told me this is the downside to being autistic and being right — it really stings when you are writing about the widespread abuse of children.