Zoe Kessler's Blog, page 3

Happy ADHD Awareness Month

So how did you feel when you read the word happy?

You might have smirked and thought, “Who is she kidding?” Or maybe you thought, “What the heck are we celebrating? My ADHD never did anything good for me.” Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones who saw the words Happy ADHD Awareness Month and simply smiled and thought, “You too Zoe.”

And how would you feel if I told you I spent ADHD Awareness Month eve drinking and smoking and playing bass guitar till the wee hours with a man half my age? Would you...

ADHD Coaching: Everything You Always Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask (Upcoming Webinar)

Mark Jones, ADHD Coach

I’ve been sharing a few updates about my ADHD coaching experience here at my blog. Now, it’s your turn!

Mark Jones, from Anchored Awareness Coaching, has offered up his time and experience to present a webinar for us this Monday, September 22 at 7 p.m. ET to talk about ADHD coaching: what it is (and isn’t), and to answer your questions.

I invited Mark because I still have a few questions about ADHD coaching myself. I’ve come to know several ADHD coaches over the years, and...

5 Ways to Happiness Through the ADHD Golden Rule

Learning about ADHD late in life has taught me a few things about how I’d like to be treated. There were many times in the past (before my diagnosis) that things might have gone more smoothly if I’d understood myself better, and what I needed from others.

This got me thinking: maybe the way I’d like to be treated would work for others too.

That’s when I came up with my ADHD Golden Rule:

Do Unto Others As You Wish They’d Done Unto You

Here are some ways you too can apply your own ADHD Golden Rule....

Coronation Street: Examining the Usual (ADHD) Suspects

I’ve been asked by readers to follow up on the ever-evolving Coronation Street plot featuring 7 (or 8, depending on the source) year-old Max as a potential candidate for the dreaded ADHD diagnosis.

So here’s the promised update (as of the Canadian programming schedule; further episodes have aired elsewhere and, spoiler alert, it looks like Max goes on medication and it helps).

Sugar and spice and tv’s not nice… apparently…

So far we’ve got television and ice cream as two alleged culprits cited a...

Sensitive: A Documentary for HSP’s

The countdown is on! Seven days are all that’s left to change the world for the better.

But let me begin at the beginning.

Being diagnosed with ADHD at 47 was a revelation. It explained so much about my life, there was no way I could imagine having another experience that paralleled the insights from learning about ADHD (for example, why the only part about Martha Stewart I could understand was the jail part; at the time of my diagnosis I was about five years behind in my income tax).

Then I re...

ADHD Gets Coronated

ADHD Gets Coronated

My friend is hooked on Coronation Street; has been for years.

How could I help watching when she and her partner were glued in front of the telly on weekends when I was visiting? I couldn’t be rude, now could I?

The inevitable plot line

So, there we were one evening, me on the loveseat, her in her comfy chair, immersed in Episode 8439 (the show’s been running since 1960).

I’m noticing the over-the-top behavior of eight-year-old Max, son of Kylie and adopted son of husband David...

Robin Williams’ Death Shocking? Yes and No

I keep reading that Robin Williams’ death is a shock.

Were you shocked? Was I? Yes and no. But mostly, no.

Sadly, some of us dealing with mental health issues, personally and in our professional lives, or have loved ones who are, are not as shocked as others seem to be.

Within the context of Williams’ history, his sudden death is a shock yes, but sadly not as much a shock as if his mental health and addiction challenges had been absent. With the presence of severe depression, addictions, bipolar...

Coach This: Celebrating the ADHD Journey

With as much as I know about coaching in theory, and with as many coaches as I know professionally through my work in ADHD, you’d think I’d have a great handle on what, exactly, ADHD coaching is.

I don’t.

In the past I’ve asked my coach if others he’s worked with talk about similar issues. He assured me that the coaching session is for me, and whatever I want to work on, in whatever way I choose, is just fine.

This did nothing to quell my anxiety about whether or not I was doing this coaching th...

Venus Envy – ADHD and Social Awkwardness

It happened at a job interview. I found myself feeling clueless about eye contact: how much was too much? I was trying to pay attention to what the interviewer was saying, and ended up worrying that I was staring like an expressionless sociopath so I looked away – just when she asked me a question. I’d been vacillating between trying for a neutral expression, hoping to look attentive and reflective, and occasional smiles, which I was sure were apropos of nothing, ill-timed, and making me look...

Why Get Bent Out of Shape? Yoga and ADHD

Julie Lelièvre, CYT

I’d been sitting at my desk, spinning my wheels, unable to focus all day. That’s when I remembered Julie’s yoga class.

I might as well go, I thought; I’m not getting anything done here.

At 5:45 p.m., I threw my thick blanket in the car and off I went to Harrison Park. It was a perfect summer’s evening, with a blue sky, a gentle breeze, and a few clouds to keep us cool. I was glad to get away from my computer and knew that if I didn’t force myself to go to class, I might sit w...