I am reading “Unmasking Autism” by Devon Price and the introduction has an exercise that requires you to come up with 5 moments in your life where you felt fully alive. I have spent the better part of yesterday trying to remember such moments, but I am not even sure what it means… I was hoping the community here can provide some insights, either by sharing their moments or their definition of being “fully alive”.

Full text of the exercise for anyone interested:

Instructions: Think of five moments in your life when you felt like you were FULLY ALIVE. Try to find moments from throughout your life (childhood, adolescence, adulthood; school, work, vacation, hobbies).

Some of the moments might leave you with a sense of awe and wonder—“wow, if all of life was like that, life would be amazing!” Some of the moments might leave you feeling deeply recharged and ready to face the next challenge, or satisfied and fulfilled.

Write down each of these moments. Tell the story of each moment in as much detail as possible. Try to think specifically about why the moment stuck with you sodramatically.

  • @WogiEnglish
    14•7 months ago

    Several years ago I took my first trip out of the country. We started in the UK and then took the tunnel to France.

    I did not at the time speak a single word of French. I’d had almost no exposure to the language.

    On the ride between London and Paris it hit me that I had no plan for how to navigate in a place where I did not speak the language.

    There was a thrill that accompanied the risk. It’s hard to explain exactly what that emotion was, a, because I’m also autistic and my emotional vocabulary is stunted to put it simply, and 2, because I’ve never felt that exact way in any other circumstance.

    It’s the first thing that comes to mind when you ask about feeling fully alive. “How are we gonna do this omg what are we gonna do, what have we gotten ourselves in to???” It’s not going to be the same for everyone. It’s an ambitious question, probably intentionally ambiguous. It’s the type of thing that autistic people, in my experience, have difficulty exploring.