The Moment It All Made Sense
Connecting the dots in my own story
It’s strange—surreal, even—that I didn’t see it sooner.
Not when I study chronic stress for a living.
Not when I built a whole business trying to understand how to manage a dysregulated nervous system.
I just didn’t see it.
Until I did.
The answer was there all along.
Hidden in plain sight.
I have ADHD.
I should’ve known back in high school—
when I couldn’t focus in class but still managed good grades.
When I procrastinated until the last minute, then pulled it together like magic.
When I felt like I was living two lives: one where I shined,
and one where I was constantly falling apart behind the scenes.
Slow Burn was created out of this ache—this search for an explanation.
Why did I feel brilliant in some ways and broken in others?
Why was I always running late, maxing myself out, feeling everything so intensely?
Why couldn’t I stick to a routine, get up early, go to bed at a decent hour?
Why did my body hold on to stress like a sponge?
Why was I so sensitive, so reactive, so worn down?
Why did I crash so hard after doing so much?
Now I know.
And with that knowing has come a strange mix of relief and grief.
There’s comfort in finally seeing the pattern—in realizing I’m not lazy or incapable.
But there’s also grief.
Deep grief for the version of me who didn’t know.
Who carried shame she didn’t earn.
Who struggled silently and blamed herself.
I recently heard Dr. Edward Hallowell—one of the leading experts on ADHD and author of Driven to Distraction—talk about how even his own wife didn’t realise she had it until the pandemic.
She shared her story on the podcast Climbing the Walls (highly recommend, by the way),
and something about that made me exhale.
This happens to so many of us.
Especially women.
Especially high-functioning ones.
We mask. We hustle.
We hold it all together—until it falls apart.
And then, one day, the truth catches up with us.
My life has felt like a marathon—always seeking answers.
And now that I’ve crossed the finish line (in one sense), I’m taking a moment to breathe.
To rest.
To look back with compassion.
Because yes—there were signs all along.
In the missed classes because I was late.
The blown budgets.
The relationships strained by misunderstanding.
The cycles of burnout and shame and self-doubt.
The anxiety. The overthinking. The rejection sensitivity.
It was all part of the story.
And now, I finally have the language to rewrite it.
I’m learning to work with my brain instead of against it.
To honour its gifts: the creativity, the speed, the intuition, the sensitivity, the empathy—
the ability to hold a lot and care deeply.
And to gently support the parts that need more care:
time management, structure, sleep, rest, self-trust.
Yes, I can fly through audiobooks at double speed,
come up with more ideas in an hour than some do in a week,
create meaningful work, and hold profound space for others.
And I can also forget to eat, leave a spoon in the blender,
sleep through alarms, and push myself past the point of exhaustion.
It’s the ultimate contradiction.
And for a long time, I didn’t understand why I was the way I was.
Now I do.
So I’m asking:
What now?
How do I move forward with more compassion and less chaos?
How can I make the next chapter feel more supportive, more sustainable, more true?
Who can support me?
What might change if I stopped trying to be “normal”
and embraced being exactly who I am?
I know I’m on the edge of something big.
A breakthrough.
A becoming.
A new way forward.
If you’re in the messy middle of something right now, I see you.
We are always becoming—never fully arrived, always unfolding.
And me? I was meant to be different.
To think differently.
To feel deeply.
To hold space with a kind of sensitivity that senses the unspoken.
To create beauty out of chaos.
To support others with hard-won empathy.
It’s a blessing and a burden—but I wouldn’t trade it.
I’m just so glad to finally see it.
Whatever’s ahead, I’m here for it.
Love, joy, presence, real connection—that’s the answer.
That, I know for sure.
With heart,
Bryony
Slow Burn Quick Links
🌿 Explore 1:1 Coaching
🌊 Join a Slow Burn Retreat
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
🛠️ Explore Online Tools
💌 Connect With Me
📖 Read My Bio