UPDATE: AUDIO FOR THIS ENTRY IS NOW AVAILABLE ABOVE! PODCAST COMING SOON!
We’ll be getting to know one another over the course of this podcast I hope, and in doing so let me give you a bit of a heads-up as to what you can expect. Since this blog and podcast are all about following my own creative whims, I don’t always know what type of blog post or episode I’ll want to write, but I can tell you there will be some recurring themes, topics, and even names mentioned. So before we go further, I’d like to introduce you to a few supporting characters you’ll hear about probably pretty frequently.
The first supporting character of this podcast, and the one that I think has spurred all of my creative endeavors, is my ADHD. I was diagnosed at 30 and if you’ve known me in the 9 years since it probably comes as no surprise that it’s one of my favorite topics of conversation. I can’t help it. ADHD affects how I view, perceive, and interact with the world and its inhabitants. The more I learn about it and explore that side of myself, the more I’ve come to love how ADHD and neurodivergent brains work.
If you've never heard the term "neurodivergent" before, it means a brain that works differently and is used as an umbrella term for conditions like ADHD, autism, dyslexia, Tourette’s Syndrome, as well as others. It’s not an official medical term and the definition can vary depending on who you talk to.
Right now because of the wait times and costs associated with getting a formal diagnosis, lots of folks are finding self-diagnosis a valid option, which can give them a base for additional research and putting strategies in place until they can get professional help.
The opposite is neurotypical, which is often seen in society as the so-called “default,” but I like to challenge that idea because I don’t think it’s possible with so many humans on the planet to have just one default type of person while everyone else is labeled “different” or othered. A lot of stigma comes from that kind of thinking and it can make it difficult for those with differently-wired brains to get the help they need because of it.
Sometimes I find I can't stop talking about ADHD and it's funny because one of the traits that come with it is called Hyperfocus, where I can throw myself into a project or research rabbit hole for hours without a break. Time flies by like nothing and I have a hard time remembering to eat, drink or even go to the bathroom and I can have a hard time stopping myself. Whenever I learn something new about ADHD or even hear a new term relating to neurodivergence, I immediately throw myself into Hyperfocus Mode looking it up and finding out more.
I love learning about ADHD so much, that I have a pipe dream of going to grad school and maybe getting the letters after my name so I can work with and help neurodivergent folks who may not have gotten the help they needed growing up and are now coming to terms with the anxiety and depression that can result from trying to cope with having a neurodivergent mind in a world built by and for neurotypicals. As I said, that’s probably a ways away with my schedule right now, but it’s on my radar.
I started Emily: Out Loud as a blog to talk about my ADHD experiences and how it affects my life and I find I love connecting with others who have ADHD, especially those who find out later in life because putting together those pieces and looking back on how ADHD went undetected and how it affected us is fascinating to me. It’s kind of like getting to the twist in a movie, then looking back at seeing all the signs leading up to it. If you relate to that, great! This podcast is made with you in mind. So thank you for being here and I hope you’re enjoying what you’re hearing and will stick around.
Another frequent guest in my life and most likely on this podcast is Adenomyosis — a uterine condition where cells grow within the uterine lining that aren't supposed to. If you haven’t heard the term before, you’re not alone. Many folks have heard of a similar condition called Endometriosis, which can affect anywhere from 1in 4 to 1 in 10 menstruating people. Adenomyosis is estimated to be just as prevalent.
There are a number of symptoms associated with Adeno, as I sometimes refer to it. For me it causes painful and uncomfortable PMS, periods, ovulation — so if you know biology you'll know that for a menstruating person that's about 3/4ths of the month. It’s manageable, but it still affects me most days. Anytime I’m at home, like when I wrote and am now recording this podcast, there’s usually a heating pad on my lap and/or back. It might not sound great, but for this constantly cold introvert, hanging out in heating pads at home isn’t that bad actually.
When I was first diagnosed at the end of 2020, I went into one of my hyperfocuses to learn as much as I could about Adeno. For the most part, I manage the pain with heating pads, pain patches if I’m going out, and CBD. Over-the-counter pain meds don’t do much. To put it bluntly, it sucks and it’s, unfortunately, underresearched and underdiagnosed so my treatment options are minimal. Ultimately, I may end up needing a hysterectomy to remove my uterus, but my condition hasn’t progressed to the point where I’m ready for that option.
I actually recorded a few interviews with other Adenomyosis warriors that at one point I wanted to turn into a podcast last year, but life got in the way — and to be honest, when Adeno isn’t affecting my life, I would rather not focus on it. It takes up so much of my mental energy going through it and when I’m not, I’m usually busy catching up on what I missed while it did its thing to wreak havoc on my body.
But, then again, I think about folks who are frantically Googling Adenomyosis after maybe hearing the term for the first time. I was that person when my midwife first saw signs of Adenomyosis on an ultrasound. I had been telling her for a while about excessive and painful cramping throughout my cycle and at one point, I had another doctor in the practice wave it off as “just a little endo,” as in endometriosis. I was lucky to have seen my midwife that day who ordered the ultrasound and found Adeno, since it’s tough to see unless you know what to look for. And, like ADHD, once I had that diagnosis, I was able to start researching and finding out more.
I usually have to explain what it is to other doctors I see and I’ve gotten so used to talking about menstruation that I honestly can’t believe it’s as taboo as it is sometimes, considering what a large number of people have a uterus. I have plans for upcoming episodes to talk about some of the resources, books, and products I’ve found that have helped me learn about and manage Adenomyosis. I wrote a blog post about managing Adenomyosis & ADHD if you’d like to learn how I balance having a brain prone to distraction with a uterus that can’t help being my No. 1 distraction most days. It’s actually the post I hear from people the most about since it’s really hard to find information about Adeno in general.
As far as actual human supporting characters on this blog/podcast, you’ll probably hear me talk from time to time about my husband, Mark.
We’ve been together 10 years, but we’ve known each other since college. He’s been one of my favorite people since meeting him in our campus newspaper office, spinning around in his chair and making everyone laugh. I always felt like I fell in love the day I met him and we were together briefly, then went our separate ways after college and stayed friends (but I still secretly always had a thing for him). Then we finally got together 7 years later. I can’t imagine spending my life with anyone else.
I also have 2 kids, ages 5 and 11, and now that they’re both starting school full-time for the first time, I have big plans to get back into podcasting and writing, hence Emily: Out Loud blog and podcast! I’ll most likely bring them up from time to time, but I prefer to keep my family and some aspects of my personal life private. I don’t post many photos of them online, but I guarantee you they’re just precious 🙂
And of course, if you’ve listened to me on any of my other podcasts, you’ve no doubt heard about my 2 cats, both of whom would probably hate their names if they could understand human English. The one who appears the most in my Instagram Stories is Little Man who was given this nickname that stuck as a kitten before he grew into a 20+-pound tubby tabby. And the other is Princess, whose full name is Princess Penelope Von Purrypants of the Purrypants Kingdom. She’s a little more elusive than Little Man, who loves being the center of attention at all times. I’ve had these cats for more than a decade so they have tons of nicknames and variations, as well as whole personalities, which are about 90% made up by me but that’s just what us cat people do, right?
There’s probably going to be some podcasting talk thrown in posts and episodes, too. This is actually my 4th or 5th podcast at this point. I’ve had a few over the years since starting to podcast back in 2015 and starting a podcast production company two years later. Probably the podcast I’m most known for is The Story Behind, a short history podcast where I talked about the story behind everyday objects. I loved that podcast and I was able to create a book and audiobook version based on it, and it was even nominated for a Webby award back in 2019. The Story Behind is on indefinite hiatus, but when I’m asked about bringing it back, I like to say “never say never” because even though it’s not something that fits into my lifestyle now, it might again or it might come back in another form. Who knows.
For a while, podcasting was my entire life it seemed. I loved building my podcast editing and consulting business and being in the podcasting space. I love my clients and helping them build and grow their shows and help them sound amazing, and I even helped put together the first major podcasting conference for women called She Podcasts Live.
When the pandemic hit though, my role as a Mom and caregiver became larger than I ever imagined, and I had to learn to find harmony between my work and life, which isn’t always easy even without a world on the brink of collapse on any given day. Somewhere in the midst of all that, I found I needed a creative outlet and I made it a goal to try to shoehorn that into my days.
I write every morning and if you’ve heard me on my most recent podcast I was a part of called Hate to Weight, I talked a bit on there about how I love doing brain dumps in the morning. If you’ve heard of Morning Pages from the book “The Creative Way” by Julia Cameron, these brain dumps are very similar.
I used to be very strict about my morning writing and doing so gave me a bit more structure to my overall writing practice, especially during Lockdown periods when time seemed to lose all meaning some days. Lately, there have been days where I wake up and have to hit the ground running to get everyone where they need to be on time so on those mornings, writing has had to wait a bit. But as soon as I get a few moments to myself, I open up a new doc on my phone and do my brain dump. Sometimes it’ll turn it into a blog post or the outline of a podcast episode, and sometimes it’ll be the only way to dump all the grinding gears onto a page into black-and-white words so I can process the information in order to do what I need to do.
One of these days, I hope to write a second book. That’s actually a long-term goal for Emily: Out Loud, but for now, I’m sticking to what I know and what I can work on at the moment.
So that’s a little slice of me. I hope you’re still hanging in there and I haven’t lost you. If you’ve read my blog and followed me on Instagram for a while, a lot of this is nothing new. But if this is your first interaction with me and you’re liking the vibe, I hope you stick around!
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