10 Comments

its so lovely to read your description of you having joy 😸

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💜💜💜

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I'd heart this 8 million times if I could 🖤

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Thank you! ✨️

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Glorious!!! Thank you AJ 💖

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You're welcome, Laura!

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Love this piece! I've found it harder to experience joy since being in severe autistic burnout post-PhD (although it is starting to improve, I think). This burnout has definitely made me less engaged with the world/the importance of building a community- thank you for this reminder of how crucially important joy is! I was reminded while reading it how much joy I got from running around during windy days as a kid- I just loved the feeling of the wind on my skin and in my hair. Maybe I should start doing some windy day run-arounds!

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Thanks for sharing this, Laney. I recognise this level of burnout. Windy day run-arounds sounds like a wonderful idea!

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This brought back memories of skipping around my grandparents big oak tree, singing "Singing in the Rain" song -- with the rain coming down, feeling the dampness and smelling the smells! Round and round the tree until I wore out -- smiling all by myself -- joy! I'd say joy in the pure experience that autistics can tap into!!

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Thanks for sharing, Tamara!

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