• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Geek Club Books

Autism Education, Awareness, Acceptance, Advocacy

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • About
    • Autism Storytelling for Hope and Change
    • Speaking
    • Creative Team & Educational Specialists
    • Advisory Board
    • Our Benefactors
    • Press
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
  • Blog
    • All Articles and Interviews
    • Articles By Author
  • Families
    • Welcome Autism Families!
    • Autism Resources Bundle!
    • Freebies
    • Mighty League Autism Moms
  • Educators
    • Welcome Educators!
    • Autism EDU
    • Bluebee TeeVee, Autism Information Station
    • School Visits
  • Comics
    • Autism Comics Overview
    • Autism in Real Life Comic
    • Autism Spectrum Comic
    • End Awareness Comic
    • Understanding Autism Comic
    • Mighty League 1: Autistic Hero Comic
    • Mighty League 2: Autistic Hero Comic Book
  • Resources
    • How to Find Resources
    • Asking Autistics
    • Autistic Self-care
    • Amazon Autism Book Shop
    • What is Autism?
    • Books By Autistic Authors
    • What is Autism Awareness?
    • Autism Glossary
    • Autism Myths
    • Autistic or Person with Autism?
    • Speech and Language
    • Autism Business Ideas
  • Zoom Magazine
    • Issue 13: Family
    • Issue 14: Trailblazers
    • Issue 15: Powerful Women
    • Issue 16: Travel
    • Issue 17: Health
  • Take Action
    • How to Advocate for Autism
      • #Activate4Autism
      • Activator Heroes
    • Make a Difference
  • Contact
  • Donate

Why I’m Feeling Brave Enough to Stand

November 19, 2019 By Jodi Murphy Leave a Comment

TwitterFacebookPinterestLinkedInRedditWhatsApp

Gretchen McIntire wearing headphones speaking into microphone

By Gretchen McIntire

Every month I strive to be braver than the month before. I had worried I might run out of ways to be brave but life seems to just keep throwing me more and more opportunities.

My External and Internal Bravery

I finally moved out of the family home I had been staying in and that has been amazing and a challenge because of changes in routines and finances. I have a roommate now that’s still family but it’s different in many ways. This place is half my own. I’m learning that it’s brave to own our mistakes as I’ve made quite a few already in my independence. It’s also brave to own a journey as a learning opportunity instead of seeing it as constant failures. I’m still working on that part.

Pushing Past My Fears

But the bigger thing that’s been happening is more about overcoming fears than moving out. I have terrible stage fright and yet I love the opportunity to be heard so that others can hopefully connect and either advocate for the Autism community or for themselves because they feel heard or less alone. 

I auditioned for a spot in the upcoming TEDXNatick and I’m excited to share that I’ll be one of the speakers. My knees were knocking during both auditions but I knew my story might help others and my faith in service was greater than my fear of failure. I’ll also be speaking at the MCEC conference later this month. Getting on a stage doesn’t really get easier for me. It’s pretty terrifying every time. But I think that’s why I secretly love it. I feel so victorious every time I do it because it means, that despite my fears, I won the battle. 

Nothing Will Stop Me

I also have mild Dysautonomia and so standing can be a breeze or extremely difficult depending on the season or day. Dysautonomia is a disorder that causes an irregularity in the autonomic nervous system and I can sometimes have very low blood pressure and high heart rate upon standing. I won’t bore you with the science of it all. But I won’t ever let Autism or Dysautonomia win in the end. 

There are some days when I truly struggle socially or my sensory overload can feel unbearable. Most never know because I’ve grown so good at masking. But I am determined to win as many battles on as many days as I can. Not just for me, but to hopefully inspire others to never give up.

What’s one fear you’ve had to face recently? How did you handle it? Is it still a fear for you?

Read about Gretchen

If you liked this post, you may also like:

  • More “Being Brave” essays by Gretchen Leary
  • Self-Care ideas by Autistics FOR Autistics
  • Why Autistics are Your Compass to Best Resources
  • Hear Our Spectrum of Voices Comic
  • Autistic Advocates share 10 Reasons to End Autism Awareness Campaigns
TwitterFacebookPinterestLinkedInRedditWhatsApp

Filed Under: Being Brave, Blog Haps, Penfriend Project Autism Columns Tagged With: autism empowerment, Gretchen Leary, self-care

About Jodi Murphy

Jodi Murphy is the founder of Geek Club Books, a registered nonprofit committed to creating a world where autistic individuals are fully accepted, valued and have a voice. Her priority is bringing autistic individuals creative and leadership opportunities that are meaningful, empowering and support their advocacy. She works with a creative autistic team to produce pop culture-based autism awareness education that is innovative, engaging, positive and opens hearts and minds to a new way of thinking about autism. Sign up for Geek Club Books mailing list for free apps, resource guides, curriculum, audio stories and more: https://geekclubbooks.com/autism-bundle.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Join Our Neurodiverse Community:

Read Our Current Issue:

Search

Latest

  • #AskingAutistics: When Did You Realize You See the World Differently?
  • A Year That Forced Me to Be More Patient and Flexible
  • This Year I’ll No Longer Apologize for Taking Up Space
  • #AskingAutistics: What Caused Your Autistic Burnout?
  • Why I’m the Caregiver I Never Had Growing Up

Topics

  • 501c3 Mission (8)
  • Anxiety (8)
  • App & Product Reviews (12)
  • Autimisms (29)
  • Autism Acceptance (13)
  • Autism at Work (9)
  • Autism Entrepreneurs (17)
  • Autism Resources (6)
  • Blog Haps (535)
  • Buzz (6)
  • Classroom (15)
  • Curious Interviews (116)
  • Day in the Life (9)
  • Dorktales (4)
  • Impactful Blogs (9)
  • Labels (4)
  • Love (5)
  • Mighty League (31)
  • Neurodiversity (2)
  • Our Personal Autism Journey (28)
  • Penfriend Project Autism Columns (216)
    • Adriana's Awesome Autistic Book Lists (1)
    • Aspierations (16)
    • Autism Insider (76)
    • Autistic Speaks (27)
    • Being Brave (25)
    • Chloe Rothschild (3)
    • Fidgets and Fries (2)
    • Happy Aspie (9)
    • My Shaynanigans (8)
    • Neurodivergent Rebel (20)
    • Positively Autistic (17)
    • Proud Autistic Living (6)
    • Tud Sense (5)
  • Pop Culture (8)
  • Safety (8)
  • Self-Care (7)
  • Self-Esteem (3)
  • Self-Improvement (10)
  • Sensory Needs (9)
  • Social Skills (4)
  • Speech and Language (6)
  • Tell Us Your Story (29)
  • Zoom Autism (55)

Footer

Support Our Work

Partners

#ReadYourWorld Advisor
 

Stay Connected

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2021 Geek Club Books

To improve your experience on our site we may use cookies. Find out more.