First things first, we have had a dang cheeky little elf invade our house this week causing all sorts of chaos for me and my kids. If you’re not aware of the craze, then you must have not spoken to many people with kids; these things are everywhere.
Basically the idea is that the elf comes to keep an eye on your kids on behalf of Santa, encouraging them and warning them to be good while the elf itself is naughty. Yeah, I don’t get it either, but my kids love it and if I’m being completely honest so do I.
While many parents dread having to come up with elusive fun naughty ideas that the elf can get up to overnight, I absolutely revel in it. This is where ADHD becomes my superpower! While some parents don’t even know what they are doing with the elf tomorrow, I already know what the elf is doing for the next week.
“We ADHDers have the ability to think of so many different ideas that the normal brain can’t even begin to fathom. Society is built on people who are able to come up new ideas and a change of pace. We might now fit into the here and now, but we have the capacity to make real change.”
ADHD Girl
Somebody said to me the other day, in regard to the elf, “Don’t go too big too soon.” I politely thanked them and then informed them that they clearly have no idea what my ADHD brain is capable of. The saying “Go big or go home” is quite appropriate for those of us with ADHD, but I tend to change it to Go big or go ADHD.”
You might be sat there reading this thinking ‘What an earth has ADHD got to do with creativity?’ In one word; everything. With ADHD our brains function differently, they never stay on one thing for too long, and that has a lot to do with the brain being able to make connections all over the place. The average brain tends to only thing of one or two things at once, because that’s how it focuses, where as an ADHD brain can think of hundreds and thousands of possibilities at the same time because it’s built to make connections. Is it any wonder we can’t sit still?
“I feel more content when I can use my gift of creativity to help others and also express myself.”
ADHD Girl
The fact we can think of so many different things at once is both a curse and a blessing. On one hand, it makes it very difficult to concentrate on one thing and it increases the possibility of anxiety. However, the good part of it tends to be it makes us incredibly creative and compassionate people. Ok, maybe I’m a little biased, I am after all an author, a blogger and foster parent. Jobs all of which require quite a lot of creativity, but perhaps they are also the reason why these days I feel a lot more content.
Let me explain, what I mean by that. Being content doesn’t mean that every day is sunshine and rainbows, that I never have anything bad happen. No, feeling content simply means that I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. Of course, I feel like I belong on a Caribbean Island sunning myself too, but we can’t have everything.
There is a tremendous sense of peace that comes with feeling appreciated, like you are making a difference and using your gifts/ talents. I’m not saying that we should all be doing jobs that lean more towards the creative side of things, because I’ve spoken to many different people with ADHD and they all find joy in different things. My point is that, even with ADHD you can thrive, you just have to find out what your gift is and use it the best way you can. My gift definitely lies in being creative and I absolutely love it.
