What’s the Point of an ADHD Alliance?
Built by someone who stalled, froze, spiraled, and still thinks we can make something beautiful here
If this sounded like your voice, even in places you didn’t know you had words for, I’m glad you’re here. There’s a wall to climb, but we are here to climb it together. I’m committed to keep bringing something valuable for you, because this is everything this Alliance is about.
I just realized something that stopped me cold.
This place, this ADHD International Alliance.
It’s me. Josh.
And it is probably you too.
I explain.
This is not just a project. Not just an idea I once had.
It became a reflection. A mirror.
And it’s broken.
Just like me.
Back when I started this, I thought it would run on good will. I imagined that if I could gather the energy of people who understood, if we could just collect ourselves in one place, the rest would unfold naturally. I thought that was enough.
It wasn’t.
Because good intentions don’t build direction.
And dreams without choices collapse under their own weight.
This isn’t about blaming myself. It’s not about shame.
It’s about clarity.
The problem wasn’t the dream.
The dream was noble. The dream was needed.
The problem was that the dream didn’t know where to walk.
And that’s ADHD, isn’t it?
Too many directions. Too many sparks.
And the fear that whichever path we choose, it means abandoning all the others that could’ve worked too.
So we stall.
We get stuck.
We dream, wide and wild, and then we freeze.
Because the world demands focus, and we don’t know how to shrink ourselves down into just one goal.
That’s not failure. That’s the disorder. And this alliance… Well, it grew up with the same wound I did.
A heart full of fire and a mind that couldn’t settle.
A drive to do everything, but no map to anywhere.
A belief that if we just love enough, organize enough, care enough… it would work out.
But even a dream needs a skeleton.
Even a community needs a direction.
And that’s where we are now.
Because I see it clearly: I created something that has every strength I do.
But also every vulnerability.
It wants to help everyone with ADHD.
It wants to cover the planet in understanding and pride.
But it can’t hug the whole world.
We have arms wide enough for about two meters. Six feet. That’s it.
Even if every one of our ten thousand subscribers stretched their arms together, we’d barely reach 20 kilometers.
That’s not the planet. That’s maybe your daily commute.
We need to make a choice.
And I know how hard that is.
Because I’ve spent 46 years avoiding choices.
Thinking that choosing one meant betraying all the rest.
But I want this to live.
Not just as a reflection of who I am.
But as a purpose that goes beyond me.
Beyond you.
Beyond the shame we inherited from a world that never wanted our kind of mind.
So I’m asking.
Not with a polished plan.
Not with bullet points.
Just with this:
What do you think this place should be?
What is the one thing we could start with?
Not everything or perfection.
Just one direction, held with both hands, and walked together.
If you’ve someday felt like you’ve built something that drifted out of your hands…
If you’ve ever seen your patterns reflected in a project you care about…
Then you may have a hint about what I’m asking.
And if you have this immaculated hint, then please, help me shape what comes next.
Because I still believe this matters and that we can take something from chaotic brilliance, and aim at something beautiful.
Not to hug the whole world, but to reach one person who thought they were alone.
And then another. And another.
That’s how you move a mountain.
Not with a thousand steps.
But with the first one, finally taken.
Together.
💚 If this echoed something deep and unfinished in you, share it with someone who still hears that question and doesn’t know what to call it.
💚 Want to say something but not sure how? Drop a comment. I’ll probably write five drafts before answering. But your voice matters here. And I’ll get back to you.
The help me and next button are bad gateways. 404....
It is nice to hear and reflect on the various experiences of others that are ND. I just learned (informally) that I am likely both ADHD and Autistic. Learning to navigate broken through a world that does not accept but seems to merely tolerate the 'broken' requires a level of fortitude that most (all?) NT's will never understand. Somewhat like men thinking they know what the birth experience or period pain is like... they just have a hard time understanding the effort 'we' go through to function 'normally' in a world where we are not. Normal that is.
I think you can make this a forum where people can post mini-essays on their own experiences, that then allows other's to respond. Group think, as it were.
You can also take a single topic or current event and discuss how this single topic impacts folks with ADHD differently from those that are NT. Then the subscribers might weigh in on that topic with their own experience, thereby creating a sort of 'database' of what those just learning about their ADHD might expect to experience when they encounter a particular topic.
Example- I just retired from my job. I am trying to determine the best next course of action. So, of course I am spending a great deal of time (like writing this) in avoidance. How to interrupt that avoidance spiral-other's experiences with avoidance spirals, etc... Whether reading political posts, as an example, drains executive function to the point of severely impacting the 'rest of the day's' motivation...
Just some thoughts...
Every word you have written here resonates. I would like to support your org with a paid subscription, but as a late life diagnosed (post 60) ADHDer, I am financially depleted. No surprise.