It is easy to see what Brili is as a whole, what we make and even a little bit of what we stand for (if you haven't, it's all here on the website). Finding what we truly stand for is something we discovered only recently on our journey. The whole of Brili driving FOR A WORLD WITHOUT STIGMA, particularly towards ADHD but hey, if we shatter some other stigmas along the way that is alright with us. It is a HUGE goal, we know, but all that means is we have a lot of work to do. Thankfully, we definitely are not alone.
For anyone in the ADHD community, it is a worthwhile journey to sift through the countless websites, influencer/expert pages and communities finding relatable, hilarious and heartfelt ADHD content along the way. You might do it once a week or see it scrolling past on your feed, but we here at Brili have the pleasure of seeing and experiencing it day in and out.
The stories of so many individuals with ADHD and related disorders have made their way to our team. We get emails, we have conversations, we hold events and every time after we finish, we rest back in our desk chairs and say... WOW.
WOW, was that a lot of information to take in at once!
WOW, that story was so unique!
WOW, that story was so relatable!
Hearing all these stories has brought us so much relief in times of uncertainty. So, in honor of building awareness around mental health, ADHD and just sharing your story in general, here are some of ours.
Now our child is shining brighter than ever...
Learning our values, needs and relationships, while raising a child with ADHD has been an adventure for us. It’s also been quite an adventure discovering the limitations of the "common practices" of parenting; feeling helpless and ashamed that things just don’t work out the way we had imagined them or saw them work in other families around us.
Receiving feedback from our users, I am stunned by how relatable the experiences
in the ADHD community are. It made me smile when Emily wrote this month:
“Holy heck, this is the timer I've been looking for forever! I didn't even know how much I wanted things like the adaptive timer and (...) being encouraged to take the next step and not having to think about what that next step is while transitioning.”
That’s exactly how I felt when discovering the power of routines! I was looking for a way to support my child with ADHD but had no idea what that solution would look like. How would we ever get to school and work on time? A bright child who could read for hours but needed constant reminders for what to do next while getting ready in the morning? And there it was! Guided and timed routines were a real game changer for our family life. And it is a RELIEF to know we’re not alone in this.
Less nagging, more positive moments together and most important: a child being proud of his accomplishments, going through his daily tasks all by himself and even being ready on time.
That moment of Wow still motivates me everyday to do my best for our community and build awareness!
Breathing through the pandemic...
For me, mental health awareness month is an important reminder of the impact of my own mental wellbeing on myself and my surroundings.
Last year at this time, we were all in a new boat. A boat full of anxiety, vulnerability, and fear. My days, my hours, my life were planned through until the plug was suddenly pulled. I had to start getting used to the same table, in the same room and the same coffee. It wasn’t the life of freedom I worked so hard to build.
It was only pure coincidence that at the same time, I started a 10-week journey in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). I couldn’t sit still at the start. I was in tears in between because whenever I closed my eyes, it felt like I was putting bricks on them to build up the pressure. But without the breathing space I gave myself every day, I probably would have completely broken down.
I accepted the anxiety by breathing into it every time it came back. I started my day differently. I went for walks and finally heard the wind. I listened to my breath going in and out until the pressure in my eyes relaxed. When it came back, I listened to my breath again. And again.
So I’m grateful for a month to remind myself of the impact. Because I often forget and fall back to forgetting my breathing space.