Magpie Gathering

Hello Dear Reader,  I am planning to give a quick summary of some of the shiny little treasures that have caught my eye each month. I hope you enjoy them too! (1) What I'm reading Nonfiction: How to Prepare for Climate Change Publisher's Summary:  A practical and comprehensive guide to surviving the greatest disaster of our time, from New York Times best-selling self-help author and beloved CBS Sunday Morning science and technology correspondent David Pogue. You might not realize it, but we’re already living through the beginnings of climate chaos. In Arizona, laborers now start their day at three a.m. because it’s too hot to work past noon. Chinese investors are snapping up real estate in Canada. Millennials have evacuation plans. Moguls are building bunkers. Retirees in Miami are moving inland... (2)  Nonfiction YA:  Feminist AF: A Guide to Crushing Girlhood Publisher's Summary:  Hip-hop and feminism combine in this empowering guide with attitude, ...

Hello Dear Reader, I am chronically ill as well as neurodivergent and these two aspects of myself intersect quite a bit. Caring for myself is nearly a full-time job because I have elevated needs due to my illness but self-care is something that neurodivergent people are notoriously bad at, myself included. Doing anything that involves being consistent (read repetitive) is hard for people with ADHD, having unexpected and unpredictable changes is hard for people with autism. Chronic illness requires consistent deadline-based habits and can randomly fluctuate even if you do everything perfectly. These are at odds and it can make living hard. But I have been working on ever-evolving systems that help me do the best I can to take care of my body and my brain. Medication In order to keep my pain at a tolerable level and my energy up, I need to take medication and supplements four times a day. I divide up my medication into a pill sorter that has four compartments and I have alarms set to...

Hello Dear Reader,   This week has been a bit of a rough one so I wanted to share some of the things that are currently making my life just a little bit better. I hope they make yours a little better too. (1) Silicone straws ( https://amzn.to/3GtfxS6 ) There are a lot of reasons why disposable plastic straws are the better option to be offered to the general public but if you don't need them then a reusable replacement is a good option to consider. I have been loving these silicone ones primarily because they are wider and thus easier to clean and they can tolerate both hot and cold liquids. I have sensitive teeth and at times any food or drink that is not the same temperature as my body can cause me a lot of pain, even to the point of triggering a migraine. These straws allow me to keep at least some of that temperature away from my teeth. Snapseed (Android  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.niksoftware.snapseed&hl=en_US&gl=US and Apple...

Hello Dear Reader,  I have been through a couple of years of trying different types of bullet journal set ups to find what works for me. I'm excited to share these with you and for the sake of brevity I will probably go into greater depth about each thing in later posts but I will also be linking you to the creators who inspired me on my journey so you can check them out and see what things might work for you.  A quick side note, all of these are great spreads and I know many people benefit from them and if you think you might I encourage you to try them. The beauty of bullet journaling is that you can try things, and see what works best for you and make the changes you need as you go on. I am just sharing my experiences and thoughts Traditional bullet journal practices that just don't work for my brain: Traditional calendars- I would set these up and then literally never reference them again. I would go to my Google calendar app for any info related to calendars or future pla...

Hello Dear Reader, It's that time of year again. The internet is full of content about goal setting, working out, planning, diets, organizing, etc, etc, etc, everything you need to become a new and better person. And for a neurodivergent person, particularly someone with ADHD it is a time of guilt and frustration. Many of us start the year with a new goal, a new planning system, a new batch of the same basic advice, new equipment and tools, and the determination to just buckle down and try harder and just DO it this year. This will be the system that helps us get organized and get our lives together. And then... It doesn't because it wasn't designed for us and for how our brains work. (1) I have tried many different systems for planning and organizing over the years some have been more successful than others and I'm going to share what has worked well for me and what hasn't and hopefully some of these ideas might help you too. What hasn't worked: Trying harder G...