Shining the light of God's word into our confused world.

Month: June 2014

Might be moving…

A current shortage of funds means I might be losing this domain. There’s a good chance that this site and all of its subdomains will be suspended tomorrow. If I can’t renew the domain before the 12 day grace period is up, I’ll have to forfeit it because I definitely won’t be able to afford the late renewal fee, and it will likely become lost to domain squatters indefinitely.

So in case the worst happens and I have to relocate everything, be sure you’re following me (if you’re not already) on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ so you’ll know when and where my sites move. Or you can sign up to my mailing list.

Yeah, it sucks. C’est la vie, I guess.

Addendum: You can also check in on my Livejournal and/or my Blogger blog for updates.

On ADHD, Medication and Creativity

On Sunday night, Audra McDonald won her record-breaking sixth Tony award. In her acceptance speech, she thanked her parents for “disobeying the doctor’s orders and not medicating their hyperactive daughter” and directing her energies into theater instead. This has sparked some debate on the Internet (really, is there anything that doesn’t spark some debate on the Internet? Ever?) about the role of medication in treating ADHD. It also prompted a post on Psychology Today that made the following claim:

In America today, we are medicating creative kids who prefer to daydream in class instead of completing  boring worksheets. We are teaching them that focusing on the blackboard is more important than dreaming big dreams that might inspire new inventions. As a society we need to find different ways to help creative though disorganized children besides dampening their creative minds with Aderall, Ritalin, Strattera and worse.

This is a topic that hits very close to home. I have ADD — my official diagnosis is “ADHD without hyperactivity, inattentive type,” which basically means I was one of those kids who preferred to daydream in class instead of “completing boring worksheets.” Today, I’m a grown-up creative professional — and I still prefer to daydream at my desk instead of completing boring freelance writing assignments. But I also gotta eat and pay bills, so I do what I have to do to help make that happen, because daydreaming all day is not a luxury I can afford. My preference for letting my mind wander does not negate the work that has to get done. Continue reading