I’m Jon, short for Jonathan. I’ve decided to shorten my name like that once due to a hurricane named John, which felt nice. Nicknames I have gone are Juan and only orJon out of the ordinary. I’ve come from North Dakota or Nodak, but what led me here was a re-route of plans or alternatives due to already being outside of Nodak. I graduated from North Dakota State University with a bachelor’s in science in Strategic Communication. My diagnosis is Autism even though the history is there of being misdiagnosed, misunderstood, and have gone through three psychic evolves in the process. This has helped me acknowledge to see things more broadly, overcome deficits in small group communication, and beauty that may not be seen otherwise. The plan was to go to the desert Southwest (particularly Nevada), because a recent connection who is also from Nodak (has no such disability) wanted me around for spontaneousness, warmer air, and that he got me to learn Spanish. I have experience traveling around the Southwest with this connection, mostly in California. Because of a change in events and discovered challenges endured once leaving Fargo, ND, I started to feel more pressured to think of alternatives since becoming more isolated. I’ve always felt forcibly overstimulated.
What Made Me Feel Great, but came with risk
What made me feel unique has always been something that leads me to seek things that are out of the ordinary. There have been instances when I had this, but had to overcome stationary situations like being stuck in one area where everything felt provocative. Another one is overcoming a legal battle where jealousy has been at the forefront. Everything has been a process that has come with huge risks where I have noticed the deep wanderlust in me and the worry of missing out on things even what made me feel comfortable. I’m too complicated even for myself. These experiences, among many others, have given me a slice of post-traumatic stress disorder.
How I cope or feel better when overwhelmed or overstimulated
When feeling this way, there is usually always a reason for it mostly unsolved things I figure out in my own time in my mind. Being stuck in isolation including the unknown, I’ve had nothing but time knowing everything around me is blank consumerism. Experiencing things where life does not feel normal, non- traditional, artsy, out of the ordinary, and accomplishing small things like learning a new task relaxes my mind. Outdoors activities like hiking give me fresh freedom to think about stuff or just having more flexibility in things make me feel relieved. When things that may affect me come to mind, instead of letting them build up, I also pay attention to these things through research. Keeping certain tabs on independent current events has also been key to unboxing what’s in my mind. My phone is often used to escape certain things by doing this research among other things like my own personal taste in music that helps stabilize me. Having a broad multi-facet mind has been key to my survival, as well as calling myself non-binary.
Jon is interning with The Arc Minnesota through this spring.