The Electricity of Every Living Thing: A Woman’s Walk in the Wild to Find Her Way Home

Product Information

As the blurb suggests, May didn't find the diagnosis of Asperger's/ASD distressing, but rather almost liberating. It gave her the permission to be who she is, which on reflection, is kind of a sad thing--that only a diagnosis offers permission to be unable to tolerate a busy, crowded room or being touched by a stranger.

Her journey is about discovering where she can compromise, where she can’t, and building upon the relationships that matter to her; she forces herself to hold hands, (something she finds ‘grindingly’ uncomfortable) to support a friend though a cow phobia. She describes her close friends as ‘adoring’, but because of the stigma portraying autistic individuals as perpetually ‘lonely’ she felt she needed to hide her sociability when seeking diagnosis, of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars The Electricity of Every Living Thing: One Woman's Walk with Asperger's by Katherine May How Katherine defines the active acceptance of sadness and how to lean into our sadness without it becoming harmful An immersive audio drama based on the original memoir The Electricity of Every Living Thing by Katherine May. This series compels you to walk with Katherine on her journey along the line of the South West Coast. In this adaptation, Katherine’s story is recreated as an immersive sensory journey detailing a different way of being in the world -and becomes a different way of experiencing an audio drama.All this wonderful diversity is invisible in the winter, but in a couple of months, it will begin again: buds, blossom, and then apples which will fall to reveal naked branches.”

I loved the voice Katherine gave to autistic women in her book T he Electricity of Every Living Thing and during this conversation, we’ll get into how Katherine navigated her journey of first self-diagnosing and then seeking out an official diagnosis of autism, and what that meant to her. We also discussed how her relationships with others changed, or didn’t, when she shared her diagnosis, the grief that some parents experience when they realize their child is neurodivergent, as well as the importance of “wintering” or actively accepting periods of sadness.Underneath that carefully learned set of gestures is raw, boiling chaos. I cling to the right to cover.” Perhaps I’m hoping that people will love me a tiny bit more for knowing I can’t help it?… That I’ll never be able to access the easy patience that I see in everyone else. Perhaps I’m hoping for a better life story, a coherent, tidy narrative arc finally drawing my scattergun life together?”

Someone said to me afterwards, you do know that nobody walks the South West Coast Path in winter, don’t you? And I was like I do now.Poetic and intensely evocative. I read this as a metaphor that she feels elements of her personality retract into hibernation, but then unveil when safe. For me, her most important reflection wasn’t when sight-seeing tall forests and sparkling lakes, but when sliding through wind, rain and mud…

The astonishing sensitivity and awareness in her writing, both about the beautiful landscapes and nature around on her walks, and in relation to her family, friends and self put paid to many outdated myths about what it is like to be autistic' Perfect for fans of The Salt Path and The Outrun, this book is a life-affirming exploration of wild landscapes, what it means to be different and, above all, how we can all learn to make peace within our own unquiet minds. Yeah, and as I was reading that, too, I also related to that idea of so many listeners of this show, so many people in my community are working toward accepting and leaning into, you know, who their child is. And it’s that same kind of tension, that disconnect between accepting what is and leaning into that, and that the pain can often be caused by trying to, to avoid or deny or not really look at what’s going on.What “masking” is among autistic women and the complications of reconciling with the “mask” after accepting one’s autistic identity The Electricity of Every Living Thing tells the story of the year in which Katherine comes to terms with her diagnosis. It leads to a re-evaluation of her life so far - a kinder one, which finally allows her to be different rather than simply awkward, arrogant or unfeeling. The physical and psychological journeys become inextricably entwined, and as Katherine finds her way across the untameable coast, she also finds the way to herself.