Out of the blue
First new post in quite a while. I’ve had another one in progress for a little while but it doesn’t feel ready. So maybe it will come soon. Maybe it will stay in my Drafts forever..
But I want to write something. And I have some low key good things happening out of the blue that I want to talk about.
Where I live I’ve been trying to find my community for quite a long time. And I’ve been going to a support centre for a couple of years. And I’ve been finding it really hard to fit in. To find my place there.
It takes me a long time to get to know people, to trust, to feel safe in new places. And just recently I’m beginning to feel it there.
There was a big restructuring happening there last year and it was a bit discombobulating and uncertain. Staff have left and there’s a new vibe to the place now.
And honestly. I like it. I like what’s happening, for the most part. And I feel more comfortable there these days. I’m getting to know some friendly faces. I’m feeling happier about socialising with them. I’m happier to talk and be seen.
It’s all really helping.
I’m still having the usual mental health challenges and episodes of course. But I’m hunkering down when those happen. 2025 was pretty bad for that. But I’m ok. I know how to get through it.
Anyway..
Good things
1
I’ll probably be gifting some very large photographic prints to put up in the support centre. These are 33 inch glossy prints mounted on foam board that I exhibited way back in 2013. And were returned to me a few years back. They’ve just been gathering dust in my home and I don’t have the space to store them really.
It’s weird because I have no memory of a couple of these photos. They date back 20 years. So it’s wild to see them again.
This was all my idea. They are busy redecorating various areas and I heard them mentioning getting some art up on the walls so I piped up and offered my work.
I’m super happy to give them a new home. All being well.
2
I was asked if I wanted to take part in a neurodiversity support group recently. The lady that’s running it is super nice and we spend some time talking about it and what it might look like. It felt really good to be approached about it.
3
I requested for a quiet space to be considered at the centre. Because I can sometimes get overwhelmed with the liveliness of other members and occasional intense conversations that can happen there. In the past I would go home, sometimes immediately after getting there (which is a shame because it’s quite an effort to go there sometimes).
And they were already working on it. Soon there will be a quiet sensory room for us as an alternative to the more noisy environments. I think it will really help people to have that option.
4
And the next thing is another support system I specifically have requested of a particular staff member has been given the go ahead from a funding and safeguarding point of view. We have had several conversations about it over the last year and now it’s been green lit, I can be involved in it’s inception. I’m looking forward to that.
These are all really positive things. It feels like they’re happening all at once but the truth is some have been simmering away in the background for some time.
And now things are moving and I’m being included and asked to contribute. Which feels really really good. And I’m being supported too of course.
It feels like 2026 is going to be a very different year for me.
Very nice!