We All Have a Right to be Who We Want to Be.

Even if you have ADHD or other brain disorders.

Have you ever noticed a theme or a pattern going on in your life? Like something that you need to change. It could be something like smoking, bad relationships, or something bigger.

I do have a few patterns that I want to change. It’s hard because I have ADHD. But I have noticed another one that I do want to change.

What I am about to write might sound like imposture syndrome, but it isn’t. Please let me explain.

For those of you who don’t have ADHD, imagine that all your life people tell you not to do this or that or become this or that.

For example, as a kid and young adult, I wanted to be an actor. My parents told me that it’s not possible because I am not a certain ethnic group (I know that it sounds racist now and untrue). And I did try it when I went to university. I also did take screenwriting and playwriting, which I found out that I was good at. However, the only acting jobs that I got were directing students and not the main stage. After graduating, I did give up on that dream. I realized that people were not convinced that I was a good actor.

Then, at one point, I wanted to become a poet. But again, people online didn’t think that I was that good, and I found out that the pay to being one wasn’t that great either. So, I gave up on that too.

I was going to write my whole life story on this, but my point is that no matter what you do, you get countless naysayers telling you not to do it.

People with ADHD have always had a problem with rejection because they have encountered it for most of their lives. It gets to the point where they don’t want to decide anymore, being afraid that they might get rejected again.

As I am writing this, I am thinking of another way to put this. There was a time in my working life where, even though I was at a job for a couple of months to a year, people still thought that I was new. At first, I thought that it had something to do with my looks. I look younger than I really am. But now that I realize it, looking like I am new to a job even thought I have been in there for a few months, has more to do with my maturity than my looks. People with ADHD do slowly mature mentally than neurotypical normal people.

There was one point in my 30s where I was thinking why are people treating me this way. I do have lots of experience.

Now comes the reason why I am writing this.

My strongest skills are creativity and writing. I do remember, as a kid, getting my first kid version of a typewriter. That is even though I had trouble with reading comprehension, until I was 10 years olds (Thank you very much, J.R.R. Tolkien). I didn’t find out that writing was my strongest skill until I took screenwriting and playwriting in university. I didn’t get paid for that skills until I graduated with a Broadcasting Degree years later. As some of you fans know, I worked as a Creative Writer for radio writing commercials.

Since being laid off in 2020, I thought that I might become a Copywriter. I even did some online classes for that. Once I started on Medium, as you know, I did get one fellow writer mentioning that I don’t write in “Business English.” And most recently with another rough draft of an article that I am writing for some other organization, I felt that a fellow writer was not convinced that my article was academic.

Give me a break! I need to get people, who aren’t concerned with business or academic jargon, to read it. Not everyone is that the same level as those writers think they are. Or give people with ADHD a break, altogether.

I bet you that I am not the only person with ADHD that has been treated like this. There are others too. No wonder we have problems with relationships and work. Our inattention and/or hyperactivity gets in the way of listening when others are speaking and paying attention to them.

I know that my superpower is hyperfocus (Which is what I am doing right now as I am writing this), and is also my curse. There are times that I didn’t notice that time flies by when I do that. However, I do tend to lose track of time while I daydream.

Another thing that ADHDers do, and I am doing it here to, is rambling on and on and getting off-topic. So excuse me if I do. That’s my inattentive brain wanting to get things off my chest.

My original point to those who think that they know what business and academic writing should always be and should be done that way, as it always has. It is not always so. If you want to write for the web, you got to remember that not everyone knows what SEO or ROI is in business. Or if it is the academic, particularly with anything to do with science, there will be those who aren’t scientist or the medical professionals who know what you are writing about. Plus, they might get bored, get off that site and move on to another. That’s what I know when it comes to copywriting.

I do know that I have at least 200 podcast listeners every week, and I have a growing number of fans on Medium who enjoy what I write. I am happy and thankful for that. Likewise, I also know that I will always get a few nay saying know-it-alls, who are the minority.

I know that there are many ways to formats the way you write. Whether it be a screenplay, commercial, novel, etc. But for you, know-it-alls who want to stick to business or academic writing, and think that both these forms should be followed the traditional way: Well, if you are writing for either of those crowds, then you are correct.

But if you are writing for the web, that is not always going to be strict. That’s depending on if it’s a scholarly essay in an educational publication or not. Besides, you’re dealing with two radically different audiences here. Yes, bloggers and writers tend to forget who they are writing for, besides themselves.

By the way, that pattern that I want to change is to be around more people that accept me for who I am and enjoy reading what I write.

What do you all think? Am I making myself clear?