I tore my life apart because of autistic burnout.
Literally burned everything to the ground.
My life was full of soured lemons, and I was determined to fix that.
Now, my life is lively.
Sometimes, there are still lemons.
And sometimes, I make the best of those lemons.
Sometimes, I decide the whole bag of lemons is done for and trash it (like my 2005 PT Cruiser).
The fantastic thing about agency and autonomy is my choice.
I chose to start a blog 20+ years ago and continue to blog today for entirely different reasons — except the one where I believe my story deserves to be heard.
Right now, I work full-time in retail alongside running a blog as an online business until I can quit to blog full-time to fully accommodate my needs.
You won’t hear about my job as much as you might want to, because I’m not the Taylor Swift of retail or of bloggers.
Before, I lived life in chronic crisis mode, like there were little fires everywhere that would spread if I didn’t rush to put them out for everyone before myself.
Now, I live slowly.
I romanticize mundane activities.
My after-work routine reminds me I’m human.
I have a life outside of work.
I also have three baskets of laundry to fold sitting in front of my cube shelf.
Before, I’d have shamed myself for that.
Now, I don’t register laundry as that important to do after it’s clean.
I’d rather spend time learning and dancing K-pop choreography, watercolor painting, playing with my cat, reading one of my 10+ library books, or looking for fake plants that look real enough to me to add to my room.
Lemon & Lively chronicles my journey via curated collections of what interests me, fits my present lifestyle and feels important to share.
You can also find me on YouTube.
Let’s connect and keep it lively,
Jane 💖✨