Ep 6. Built Different: The Quiet Power of Being You

Liz Buggy: Welcome to Spicy Brain, Phoenix Heart, a space for the big hearted human with a beautifully complex mind. I'm Liz Buggy, your NeuroSpicy guide through the messy, the complexities and the meaningful moments of being human. If you've been feeling overwhelmed, out ⁓ a little lost in the noise, ⁓ not alone ⁓ ⁓ landed in the right place. ⁓ we don't rush ⁓ fix, ⁓ feel, we learn and we rise. ⁓ take a moment, take a breath and let's begin. I want you to picture something for a second. It's late at night. The world is quiet. However, your mind is not. Ideas are bouncing. Memories are replaying. You're thinking about everything you said today. What you should have what you wish you didn't. And this feeling sitting in your chest. That feeling like, why is this so hard for me? And if that feels familiar, you're not alone. More importantly, you're not wrong for feeling that way. I remember a moment, clear as day, sitting in a room where everyone else seemed to just get it. They were focused. They followed the rules, the conversation. They took notes. They stayed focused. And me? I was drifting. Not because I didn't care, but... because my brain had already ⁓ steps forward, then sideways ⁓ a completely different idea. then somehow into a memory from five years ago. As I sat there, I thought, what is wrong with me? Why can't I just focus? And those questions stick with you. A lot of neurodivergent people grow up carrying it quietly. Not out loud, but internally. In the way they hesitate, in the way they second guess themselves, in the way they shrink just a little to fit in. Here's something I wish someone had said to me back then. Your brain isn't failing you. It's functioning differently. Research shows that neurodivergent brains whether ADHD, autism, dyslexia, Process information in unique ways. Different dopamine pathways, different sensory filters. different approaches to attention and problem solving. This means that you're not imagining the struggles. It's real. But so is something else, capacity. Because ⁓ differences ⁓ often linked to deep creativity, pattern recognition, emotional insight, innovative thinking, you know, the kind that doesn't the world, it reshapes it. Now, ⁓ Let me tell you another version of that same story, same room, same people, but this time instead of asking what's wrong with me. Imagine asking, what am I noticing that others aren't? Because while everyone else was following the rules and the straight line, You are seeing the connections and while they stayed on the surface, you went deep while they stayed within the rules. Your mind wandered beyond them. And yes, that can make you feel out of place. But out of place is often where perspective is born. Stepping into your power doesn't mean waking up one day suddenly confident and fixed. It's quieter than that. It's in the small moments, letting yourself work in a way that actually suits you taking a break before you collapse. Saying no to environments that drain you. Trusting that your way of thinking has value, even if it's not understood immediately. It's choosing over and over again to work within your capacity and work with your brain instead of fighting it. That takes courage because the world will still try to hand you a script that wasn't written for you. You know, there is grief in this journey too. Grief for the years you spent thinking you were the problem. Grief for the energy you poured into things, trying to be normal. Grief for the moments you dimmed yourself just to belong. That's ⁓ But alongside that grief, there's something else waiting. Permission. Permission to be intense, to be curious, to be non-linear. to be deeply unapologetic, to be yourself, because the truth is the things you are told to do now might be the very things that light your path forward. The world is forever changing. It's less about fitting into rigid boxes and more about adaptability, creativity and human insight. The very spaces that once felt impossible for you are being replaced by ones that need exactly how you think. So maybe your job isn't to catch up. Maybe your job is to lean in. Lean into your curiosity, to your intensity, to your way of seeing the world. even if it doesn't make sense to begin with or make sense to everyone else. If you are taking nothing else from this episode, take this. You were never meant to be a watered down version of someone else. You're meant to be a fully expressed version of yourself. And yes, that path can feel uncertain. It can be scary, but it's also where your power lives. Not in fixing yourself, but in finally understanding and accepting yourself. So tonight when your mind is racing, when you feel that familiar weight in your chest, try asking a different question. Not what's wrong with me, but what's right about me that I haven't fully seen yet? Thanks for being here, big hearted human. If something resonated with you today, let it settle. No pressure, no perfection. You're allowed to move gently, to take your time to find your way back to yourself in your own rhythm, in your own time. You're not too much. You're not behind. You're becoming. Until next time. Feel everything rise anyway.