For years I tried to become someone who fit in.
To smile when it was appropriate. To act as expected. To strive to appear “normal.”
Over time, I understood that the problem wasn’t being different. The problem was spending my life trying to hide it.
Discovering that I’m autistic didn’t change who I am. It changed how I understand my entire story.
Now I no longer want to be like anyone else.
I want to be a little more myself each day.
Perhaps we all, autistic or not, reach a point where we stop living to meet expectations and start living to be authentic.
And, interestingly, that’s where one begins to feel free.
