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10:57pm August 24, 2014
Anonymous asked: i hope this does not come across in a way that is insulting/wrong/misguided, even though it is kind of selfish at its core as i type this: you are a person on tumblr who makes me feel less alone, and i very much appreciate the thoroughness with which you share your opinions and the depth that you give to your insights. thank you for being here and being open, because it validates the experiences of a lot of us who are not ready or able to speak up or to speak out.

That’s exactly why I do it.  Because there was a time when I could not speak out, and others did, and it saved my life.  So I did everything I could, to do that for others, when my communication abilities and my strength to stand up in public and say shit, caught up with me.  I take it really seriously.  And I am glad that there is anyone, even one person, that I’ve helped in this way, because it makes me feel like I’m giving back to the world a little bit of what the world gave back to me.

Feeling less alone is not selfish.  We are a social species.  For most if not all of us, feeling less alone is a vital part of life, without which we can develop all kinds of emotional and mental problems.  I started my collection of books by autistic authors (now over 120, and in need of at least 80 more) because I wanted to feel less alone.  And even to go to my bookshelf and look at my books reminds me I’m not alone, even when I don’t read them.

Luckily I now know people who are a lot like me and are actually friends, not just people I read.  I hope you find some of those too.  They have made a huge difference in my life.  Just make sure they’re real friends, there’s a lot of people out there willing to take advantage, as I found out the hard way.  But seriously, I hope the best for you, and every time I get a message like this it makes me feel like maybe I’m doing something right.  I’ve gotten a few recently and they make me cry, that I can be part of something, just a part of something, that could make people feel less alone.

(I’m tagging this with a lot of autism tags.  I don’t know if you’re autistic.  I’m tagging it this way because those are the ways that I felt less alone when I read other people’s stuff.  You’re not.. obligated to be autistic or something just because of how I’ve tagged this.)

Notes:
  1. natalunasans said: i love your disclaimers, like really, the world needs more disclaimers and negotiations of meanings and overexplaining should be a cultural value so we would know what was going on (there’s *my* autistic bias lol)
  2. wolodymyr reblogged this from withasmoothroundstone
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