Self-Compassion Zine!

Because if you are neurodivergent, you probably need some!

Welcome to Healing is My Special Interest, the newsletter at the intersection of late-diagnosed neurodivergence. I am posting a few days late this week because I was trying to figure out how to format a zine for you all! The downloadable content will be for paid subscribers only — but you are in luck because subscriptions are on sale! You can get 10% off the already low annual subscription rate of $35 FOREVER. If you are unable to afford a subscription, please email me at dlmmcsweeneys at gmail.

Hello everyone,

Today I have something really fun to share. As you know, I love making zines (I actually have a few for sale over on my squarespace!). I have decided to make quarterly self-care zines that I can share here in this space, for a few reasons.

1). Zines are fun and maybe by me sharing mine I will encourage folks to make their own!

2). Being creative is really important to my mental health, and this is one of the ways I get to be creative.

and

3). I love anything tactile! So folding paper, cutting it, drawing and coloring and gluing things together . . . I just love it! And it gets me out of my very crowded brain in ways that regular old writing does not.

SO. Here’s a quick preview of the zine and then behind the paywall I will have the downloadable image and instructions for how to make it. It is NOT perfect and the annoying thing is no matter how hard you try and fold it perfectly it won’t quite match up. This is my fault and I know how to do it better for next time!!!!

For my last personal essay I shared some about engaging with my childhood self. This zine is an extension of that. It is called What You Deserve, and it is a callback to the Christian theology I grew up with and my refutation to it. I grew up an evangelical pastor’s kid, and one of the fundamental beliefs in that world is that every human being is a sinner deserving of God’s wrath and punishment — even children! Original sin as a concept has done so much damage to so many people, but it makes for folks who are easy to control through guilt and shame. Thus, the cycle continues on when children are indoctrinated into a belief system where they must identify themselves as little sinners who are nothing without the saving love and grace and punishment of God / their parents / their Christian community.

So I wanted to make a zine where folks could start with a picture / image of themselves (as little kids or teenagers or present day) and tell yourself what you actually deserve.

Which [spoiler alert] is all the self-care, compassion, grief, and curiosity in the world!

If you want to purchase one of my perfectly imperfect zines, you can do so here. Or, you can become a paid subscriber and print it out / fold it up / give it out to however many people you want!