Welcome to the Journey: Why I'm Starting Neurospicy and Navigating

And why you might need to hear these stories

Hi, I'm Paige, and I have no idea what I'm doing.

That might seem like a strange way to introduce myself and launch a podcast and blog about neurodivergent life, but it's the most honest thing I can say right now. Because the truth is, I'm still figuring this out. I'm still learning who I am underneath decades of masking. I'm still discovering which of my responses are trauma, which are ADHD, and which are just... me.

And maybe that's exactly why I need to start talking about it.

The Moment Everything Clicked (And Fell Apart)

I was diagnosed with ADHD at 5 years old. But somehow, that diagnosis got buried under years of "you just need to try harder" and "everyone struggles sometimes" and the kind of invalidation that makes you question your own reality. When I rediscovered my neurodivergence as an adult - really understood what it meant - it was like someone had handed me a map to a country I'd been living in my whole life without knowing its name.

Suddenly, so many things made sense. The exhaustion after social events. The way I could hyperfocus on things I loved until I forgot to eat. The constant feeling that everyone else had received a manual for being human that I'd somehow missed. The way certain textures against my skin could make me want to crawl out of my body, while soft bamboo fabrics felt like a hug from the universe.

But with that clarity came grief. Grief for all the years I spent thinking I was broken instead of different. Grief for the authentic self I'd buried under layers of performance and people-pleasing. Grief for the childhood I spent learning to survive instead of learning to thrive.

Why Neurospicy and Navigating?

I chose "neurospicy" because it captures something that clinical terms miss - the flavor, the complexity, the richness of having a brain that works differently. We're not disordered or deficient. We're seasoned differently.

And "navigating" because that's what we're all doing, isn't it? Finding our way through a world that wasn't designed for our brains, with relationships and parenting and careers and daily life that all require a different kind of map than the one most people are given.

This space exists for those of us who are:

• Newly diagnosed and overwhelmed by finally having answers

• Long-time navigators who still have hard days and new discoveries

• Parents trying to break cycles while raising kids with brains like ours

• Survivors who used masking as protection and are now learning it's safe to be authentic

• Anyone who's tired of feeling like they're the only one who finds "normal" life impossibly difficult

What You'll Find Here

I'm not a therapist or a researcher or someone who has it all figured out. I'm a mom of two littles (3 and 1), navigating my own ADHD while suspecting at least one of them shares my brain wiring. I'm someone who spent decades perfecting the art of appearing neurotypical while my nervous system screamed for softness, quiet, and the freedom to stim without shame.

What I can offer you is radical honesty about the mess and the beauty of this journey. Stories about:

• The daily reality of parenting with a brain that forgets to eat lunch

• The invisible load that feels heavier when your executive function is already maxed out

• Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria and why criticism feels like a punch to the soul

• Masking, unmasking, and the exhausting performance of appearing "normal"

• Sensory needs and why your comfort objects aren't childish

• Trauma and neurodivergence and how they tangle together in complex ways

• Relationships where you love people but sometimes need to disappear

• The ongoing work of healing that doesn't look like instagram quotes

The Both/And of Healing

Here's what I'm not going to do: pretend that understanding your neurodivergence fixes everything overnight, or that positive thinking can overcome systemic barriers, or that we should just be grateful for our "gifts" and ignore the real challenges.

Here's what I am going to do: hold space for the both/and. Both the struggle and the beauty. Both the grief and the relief. Both the days when you feel proud of your unique brain and the days when you wish you could trade it in for a neurotypical model.

Because that's the real story, isn't it? It's messy and non-linear and some days you take steps backward and that's still part of moving forward.

An Invitation

Whether you found me through the podcast or stumbled across this blog, you're invited into this conversation. Your story matters. Your struggles are valid. Your victories - even the small ones like getting through grocery shopping without a meltdown or setting a boundary without apologizing - deserve celebration.

We're going to talk about the hard stuff here. Trauma and masking and the way perfectionism tries to protect us but ends up imprisoning us instead. We're going to be honest about medication and therapy and the fact that healing isn't a destination you arrive at.

But we're also going to talk about the good stuff. The joy of finding your people. The relief of finally understanding yourself. The freedom that comes with unmasking, even in small ways. The magic of raising kids who might never have to hide who they are.

What's Next

Over the coming weeks, I'll be sharing stories that might sound familiar. About growing up different in an unsafe world. About learning to parent with the same brain that struggles to remember your own basic needs. About the revelation that your "personality traits" might actually be trauma responses.

Some posts will be deeper dives into podcast episodes. Others will be standalone pieces for those who process better through reading than listening. All of them will be honest about where I am in this journey - not where I think I should be, but where I actually am.

If any of this resonates, I'm so glad you're here. If you're feeling overwhelmed or like you don't belong anywhere, you belong here. If you're tired of pretending to be someone you're not, this is a place to practice being yourself.

The navigation continues, and we don't have to do it alone.

P.S. - If you're looking for sensory-friendly clothing that doesn't feel like wearing sandpaper, I can't recommend Charlie's Project enough. Their bamboo pieces have literally changed my relationship with getting dressed. Use code https://loox.io/z/tX2-5GpFB for 40% off if you want to try them out.

Coming up next:  "The Invisible Load of a Neurodivergent Mom" what happens when the invisible load meets an ADHD brain

Want to connect? Find me on instagram at neurospicy and navigating or email me at [email protected]. I read everything, even if I can't always respond right away (executive function is still a work in progress).

Also, if you would like to subscribe, I am offering a free "swirl journal", you can do so here.