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Breaking Free from Societal Expectations: A Story of Coming Home to Yourself
The smell of grilled chicken and weed smoke mingles with the distant thrum of guitar. The Allman Brothers Band is playing somewhere beyond the food stands, their sound carrying across the festival grounds where my parents’ booth sits, serving up burritos and BBQ to hungry concert-goers. I’m twelve, manning the cash box while my brother preps more chicken on a…
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Dopamine Dressing for Neurodivergent Souls: Permission to Dress
It’s 7:23 AM, and you’re standing in front of your closet wearing nothing but yesterday’s exhaustion and the familiar weight of having to choose an outfit that won’t betray you by lunchtime. The sweater that looked soft in the store now feels like wearing steel wool. The jeans that fit perfectly last week suddenly have seams that scrape against your…
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Permission to Take a Break
There’s something deeply ironic about launching a blog called Gentle Nook… and then immediately sprinting like I’m training for the Gentle Olympics. Hi, it’s me! Your friendly neighborhood former therapist, the one who preaches gentle living while simultaneously staying up until 3am, forgetting to eat, and running almost entirely on Coke Zero, cheese and granola bars. Classic. And it’s not…
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Permission Slips for Self-Care: Your Gentle Rebellion
Hey there, beautiful soul. Can I tell you something? For most of my life, I lived in a world of invisible rules that nobody had actually written down. Rules like “don’t take up too much space,” “say yes even when you’re exhausted,” and “your needs come last.” Sound familiar? After my autism diagnosis in my thirties, so much clicked into…
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From Burning Out to Breaking Free: Why I Created Gentle Nook
There’s a moment when everything breaks. Except for me, it wasn’t really a moment. It was a slow undoing that unfolded over months in a fluorescent-lit office, staring at case files while my capacity quietly dissolved. I couldn’t concentrate. My executive functioning had vanished. All I could manage was going to work and coming home. That’s all the energy I…
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How to Stick to a Skincare Routine When You Struggle with Executive Dysfunction
Sticking to a skincare routine can be tough in the best of circumstances. Throw in executive dysfunction—when your brain decides that starting, organizing, or even thinking about a task is equivalent to climbing Mount Everest barefoot—and suddenly, your three-step skincare plan feels like a NASA-level mission. If that sounds familiar, welcome. Grab a seat (or lie down, because comfort is…
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Stress Management for the Chronically Overwhelmed (or Just the Slightly Frazzled)
Life is stressful. Between work, family, and that questionable pile of laundry that’s definitely achieved sentience, it’s honestly impressive we’re functioning at all. The good news? You don’t need to become a meditation guru or give up your favorite comfort foods to manage stress. You just need a little humor, a lot of self-compassion, and some practical strategies. Stress? Yeah,…
