It's the first Wednesday of the month,
the day that members of the
Insecure Writer's Support Group
share their writing struggles
and writing successes
and offer their encouragement
and support to fellow writers.
To visit the IWSG website, click here.
To become a member of the IWSG, click here.
Our wonderful co-hosts who are volunteering today,
along with IWSG Founder Alex J. Cavanaugh are
along with IWSG Founder Alex J. Cavanaugh are
Stop by their posts and thank them for hosting.
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Every month the IWSG announces a question that members can answer
with advice, insight, a personal experience, or a story in their IWSG posts.
with advice, insight, a personal experience, or a story in their IWSG posts.
Or, the question can inspire members
if they aren't sure what to write about on IWSG Day.
Remember the question is optional.
This month's optional question is:
Is there anything in your writing plans for 2026 that you are going to do that you couldn't get done in 2025?
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Happy New Year, Everyone!
I wish each of you happiness, health, creativity, fulfillment and love!
My writing plans for 2025 flamed out, except for my blog and IWSG admin work.
So, again, my plan is to finish my memoir.
I thought I'd complete a lot while our renovation was going on,
but I was overwhelmed by the chaos and couldn't manage it.
I kept/keep asking myself What is wrong with me?
Then, when I was laid up with the flu during the week from December 26th to January 4th,
I found myself in the pages of November 2025's National Geographic.
I was stunned.
The issue had a series of articles on adult ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).
I've alluded to having ADHD before,
but I didn't really understand the implications of that until now.
Previously I have shared that my no-longer-secret family nickname is "The ADHD One."
(Aren't siblings the best? 😂)
I didn't realize I had ADHD until I was in my early 50s,
when it dawned on me that all the accommodations I was making for my ADHD kiddos
were necessary for me to function too.
Then I asked my siblings if they thought I might have ADHD,
and they all burst out laughing,
especially my youngest sister who was a Special Education teacher.
That's when I learned my secret family nickname.
My brother Roy told me that his biggest worry about one of his children
was that he might have ADHD like me.
Wow! 😱 He didn't, thank goodness!
Now Roy calls me his "beautiful butterfly," because I flit from flower to flower continuously.
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Moi ~ A Monarch
It was Roy who spotted something unusual when we were laughing over old photos
at my Great Aunt Nan's dining room table many years ago.
"Do you realize that in almost every photo of you when you're small
you're wearing a harness and trailing or carrying a rope?"
What? We started looking closely, and there I was.
Me with My Harness and Rope
Harness and Rope Times Three ~ with Roy
You'd think that I, as a teacher with ADHD students, would see what was going on with me as a child.
But I digress.
Back to the National Geographic. (p. 81, Nov. 2025)
I started reading phrases that resonated: "It is not uncommon
to have an inattentive child that is not disruptive in the classroom ..."
My most vivid memory of our ninth grade science class is humiliating. I had been looking out the window at the woods by St. Mary's River, and I made the mistake of asking Mr. McLean if he thought trees could communicate. After my teacher and the class stopped laughing, he flat-out told me no and that I'd be better served if I looked at the blackboard instead of out the window.
My Father (my principal), Mr. Cruickshank, and Mr. McLean (right, my science teacher)
Staff Lunchroom and Home Economics Classroom
St. Mary's Rural High School Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia, Canada 1965-66
A candid photo of mine in our yearbook.
or 'notice they have to work two to three times harder
to achieve the same level of success as their peers.' " (p. 81, Nov. 2025)
I couldn't understand why I was always studying, pulling all-nighters, wondering why others went to so many more campus events than me. I couldn't understand how I, who had top grades graduating from high school, who earned a scholarship to Acadia University, failed two of my five yearlong freshman courses, despite studying and working so hard. Nor could my parents understand. More humiliation.
Two of the Four Girls in Geology
Yours Truly and My Friend Lynn Thomas
Geology Department, Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, Circa 1970
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
curiosity, loyalty, and project-oriented focus when something is of interest..." (p. 81, Nov. 2025)
There I am! That's me! These are the top characteristics that people who know me would likely use to describe me.
Yours Truly Writing
If I'm working on a project I can forget to shower, eat, sleep...
Aurora, Colorado, USA, June 29, 2024
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
"...you've got these quiet girls making honor roll grades and you think they've got ADHD?...
Girls with ADHD may excel in school...They may get an A on a paper
but stay up the night before writing it after being unable to focus for weeks." (p. 88, Nov. 2025)
I nearly cried when I read this. I can't remember one time in my life that I wasn't pulling all-nighters at the last minute, even when writing my M.Ed. thesis, my stories for IWSG anthology contests, for anything.
High-achieving perfectionist? ✓
Lost in the clouds? ✓
Blurting out? Interrupting others? ✓
Constantly shaking my legs? Twisting my hair? ✓
Impulsivity? Reacting emotionally? ✓
Disorganized, forgetful, trouble staying on task? ✓
Working very hard to hide my problems? ✓
On antidepressants and anxiety meds? ✓
Serious suicidal thoughts? ✓
Classic ADHD symptoms for a girl or a woman.
It was stunning when I read and reread the articles on adult ADHD.
I saw me everywhere, and after long decades of wondering what was wrong with me,
why was I different, why I had to work so hard,
why I knew in my heart that I could never handle being an astronaut or a surgeon,
why I was always getting sick, crashing and burning,
literally bleeding out internally from overworking,
I got it.
What having ADHD truly meant clicked into place.
Sitting on a Favorite Cottonwood Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado, USA November 22, 2025
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue All Rights Reserved
You may be wondering what this has to do with
accomplishing in writing in 2026
what I didn't accomplish in 2025, 2024, or ... ~ my memoir.
I suddenly understood my life.
While doctors and researchers aren't sure what causes ADHD,
it's thought to be primarily genetics and the biology of what's going on in the brain.
It could also be impacted by the environment. (p. 84, Nov. 2025)
I think the trauma I experienced in the North
exacerbated my genetic predisposition for ADHD.
Understanding me and ADHD is the missing piece in my memoir puzzle.
It helps me understand why I became the Gingerbread Girl.
This gives me hope that maybe this year will be different.
The good news is that with the right job, the right friends, and the right partner
the ADHD brain can soar! (p. 81, Nov. 2025)
Teaching ✓ My personal and Online Friends ✓ Terry ✓
The Right Partner ❤️
Panama City Beach, Florida, USA April 9, 2025
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue All Rights Reserved
Have a healthy, happy, and creative January!
Take care!
Till next time ~
Fundy Blue
Standing Into Danger https://selkiegrey4.blogspot.com
Copyright ©2026 – All rights reserved.
My next post will be Friday, January 16th 🤞
Just so you know, I monitor my comments before publishing them. This means your comment won't appear immediately. I will not publish mean spirited or commercial comments.
