I love you, the truth about OCD, and why we need you
Stories I’ve loved on Medium this week — 1.10.16
After last week’s reading marathon, I haven’t been quite as on top of everything on Medium these last seven days.
That doesn’t mean I haven’t read some seriously good content though. And I was fired because of my OCD… is the pick of the bunch.
Enjoy this week’s recommendations.
Now looking back at my childhood, I realise even back then I had OCD. I would get these thoughts, “knock on that piece of wood or Nan will die” (I’m a big Nanny’s boy) or “touch that light switch or Nan will die”. Now that I’m an adult, it has gotten a lot worse.
Oh man, are you really OCD about everything?
I’ve grown to hate that question. I’ve heard it so many times that by now I just answer with a shrug and a polite smile.
I don’t have obsessive compulsive disorder, but the status quo surrounding the general understanding of obsessive compulsive disorder suggests that I do.
Arranging my shoes neatly isn’t OCD. Wanting everything to be clean isn’t OCD. Tidying my work desk at the end of the day so it’s clean for the next isn’t OCD.
People who are particular about being clean and organised do not have OCD.
OCD is an illness, and I have a lot of respect for people who do actually have OCD and still manage to live a normal life.
Jack of Jack Bond’s Journal has OCD. He gets anxious over things many of us won’t give a second thought. He lost his job because he didn’t feel comfortable telling the boss about his condition and, when triggered, his OCD can be debilitating.
I used to jokingly state I’m a bit OCD before I understood just how serious a condition it is. I used to wholeheartedly agree with anyone who suggested that I have OCD.
I don’t do that anymore. I’m aware of how insufferable OCD can be.
If you throw the acronym around freely and without much thought, read Jack’s post and take note.
There are literally so many things I do all the time. There are so many things all of us do all the time! “What do you do” should warrant so much than it does. If you want to know what someone’s job is, ask them what their job is but don’t ask what they do.
This Jack Coyne story gets a recommendation simply for making me think differently about a question I get asked (and ask) at every networking event I attend.
You want to ask me what I do? Well, how long have you got?
I see through the cracks in your armor, I see what you hide in there, you can be loved, and that’s what I do. You think that you are unloveable, but I see your heart.
This Minna Von Walden piece is beautifully written. It’s super short, super sweet and super worth a couple minutes of your time.
Creation beats affirmation. I can’t NOT write. It’s not just what I do. It’s who I am.
I know I keep sharing a lot of Todd Brison, but the guy creates some incredibly valuable content.
That quote I’ve pulled out right there is absolutely spot on. I’m nearly at five months of creating daily blogs. Writing is now as big a part of me as anything else in my life — Jen, friends, family, football.
Writing isn’t just something I get done every day. It defines who I am.
