The Borromeo list, for what it's worth (at a second hand dealers maybe)
GENERAL: (Sanity savers I wouldn't do without.)
Know your media. Anything from Instagram to an old AM radio can spew B.S. into your life. If it's BS, don't listen.
Meditation helps. I don't like the mystical woo-woo crystals and enneagrams kind, no thanks! I pray the Rosary and have a routine of prayer. Catholic liturgical prayer is ritualistic which I find very helpful...the meditations use that as almost a backdrop, just as an embroidered sampler starts with warp and weft of a very orderly rigid linen cloth.
"When in doubt do the kindest thing." (St. Therese of Lisieux.) Words I don't live by but I like to try to use.
Have a base of good friends; but not many. Quality beats quantity.
AUDITORY:
No subwoofer in the house.
No radio while driving the car. It's old enough to make its own noise.
Do not listen to music through headphones unless you own a crystal radio set. Earmuffs are for quiet time.
Turn on antique desk fan--Edwardian white noise machine.
Put out birdseed and open the windows. They sing nicely, better than some American Idol contestants.
If you prefer analog clocks either install a tickless clock or get an antique eight-day clock. The jarring tick of a quartz clock is not pleasant, but the mechanical sounds of an antique clock or the silence of a new tickless model are pleasant.
SIGHT:
40 watt Edison incandescent light on writing-desk shining over shoulder makes typing less of a chore.
60 watt G. E. soft white bulb in green banker's lamp makes studying easy.
1905 Rayo center-draft lamp makes for bedside reading, if lamp has fresh kerosene and chimney is washed weekly.
Blue light filtering glasses are a must and are worn at all hours except showering or sleeping.
Muted colors--brown furniture, curtains, a palette of brown, gray, shades of green, red, cream, sepia tones, and umber.
Turn digital device monitors to minimum brightness.
Ditch CRT screens and LED monitors.
The Kindle e-Ink screen is a wonder if you like to browse e-Books.
Open curtains and let sunlight in while it is nice and sunny outside, unless it is a hot day, in which case only open windowpane at night, and draw curtains when leaving room.
OLFACTORY:
If you abhor dry-cleaners' smells, then get some denatured alcohol or some turpentine and treat for spots yourself.
Open a window when needed to air house. Keep house clean. Steam old garments and wash laundry regularly.
A daily bath helps, using a good castile or bar soap.
Make coffee and cook on the stove. By no means must every meal be from the frozen section. Cooking smells nice.
Dry your laundry on the line, weather permitting. Sunlight disinfects.
Do not scent your dryer or use dryer sheets if you don't have to.
Fels-Naptha, at 79 cents per bar, is an excellent laundry soap. Use a wash board and a sink, go green, and have nice clean laundry at last.
Avoid indoor air fresheners as if they were the French pox.
Do not let pet hair get in the electric heater for such is the foul miasma of the Styx.
If your dog smells like a "cheese perishing in painful circumstances," wash him weekly. Tend your pets.
Do empty the garbage can, scrub, clean, and do what you must to get stuff ready.
TOUCH:
Stim, if you must, and if you can do it unobtrusively so much the better.
A better way-make sure your house surrounds you with items that are "stim" objects for you. I have a lot of antique stuff in the house, dating from the 1940s on back to Victorian times: clothing, furniture, technology, housewares. It's relaxing because I use all this stuff and it really helps me to relax--and furthermore some of the old stuff is nigh indestructible. I'm heating my room with a Universal Heater from 1929!
TASTE:
"Eat to Live, Don't Live to Eat!"
Realize "samefooding" is often a stim behavior.
That said, treat yourself; don't get rid of it entirely, but don't indulge your same-food whims constantly if you can help it
Read a cookbook and window-shop in it.
Avoid the faddish diet.
If you are farting all day you probably don't need to eat what you've been eating.
Milk, constantly, is not good for you, unless you are a baby calf. You are not a calf because you are reading this.
Soft drinks aren't good for you but they are better on ice.
Get creative, find your cuisine. Some Aspies like bland food. Others like exotic spices. Find your flavor.
MOTION:
It's tough sometimes:
Be careful standing up or sitting down.
Wear shoes that fit your feet, and grip the floor. I climbed a limestone cliff 2 stories high in 1920s leather-sole dress boots but that was not one of my brighter ideas. Get shoes you feel good in.
Clothing that works like Temple Grandin's "hug box" can help.
Don't read books if riding in an automobile. You will get carsick.
Driving an automobile--do not fall asleep. Do not start it while it is in gear, and do not drift unless people are watching.
BE INDEPENDENT:
If applicable, know how to do basic maintenance on an automobile and on plumbing and electrical systems in the house.
Have friends, good friends, close friends, and few friends.
Remember that not one hundred years ago people lived a rugged life even in luxury. Get back to that ruggedness if you can, and if you cannot, know that there were people who also had it tough.
Do not rely on the hive mind to think for you; treat all media as if it were biased.
Know hobbies that you can share with others, especially others who will broaden your mind and heart
Art is good for you; good art is very good for you. Some art is much better than other art. Make the good stuff if you can.(I never learned to draw pictures well--so I write stories instead.)
Above all--
You aren't a mistake.
_________________
Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 134 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 72 of 200
You are very likely neurodiverse (Aspie)
23 Jan 2020, 6:16 am
