I have never been good at telling a tight, succinct story. I often lose my train of thought, go off on a tangent, and provide way too much unnecessary detail or backstory.
My college besties (the two beauties in the cover photo above) have always been skilled at reining me in. They use a ‘circling-a-finger-in-the-air’ hand signal whenever I get lost that works like a charm to help me circle back to the point of my story.
Luckily for all of you reading this, I’m much better at writing a story than telling one. (I’m sure it’s because I have time to edit after I word vomit.)
I could blame my social anxiety for my rambling tales. It’s true that when I’m around people I don’t know, I either freeze and become awkwardly silent or nervously talk nonstop, oversharing to the point where we’re both uncomfortable. But when I’m with family and friends, I still can’t tell a story without distractions, and I think I finally know why …
Undiagnosed (adult) ADHD.
I used to think my scattered brain/poor concentration was due to Hashimoto’s and menopause, and it is/can be. But I think it’s more than that because this is how I’ve always been—way before either of those two conditions came into play.
I’ll write more about my possible ADHD brain in another blog post sometime down the road, but for now, suffice it to say, I think undiagnosed ADHD explains a ton of my actions, behaviors, and emotions—one being roundabout storytelling.
So at the risk of belaboring the point … I really do want to keep a long story short, but it’s just not how my brain works. Now that you know, bear with me. And I give you permission to use the “circle back” hand signal to gently get me back on track when needed. We’ll both be thankful you did.
—LJDT
