I’m so honored to share today’s podcast featuring the incredibly talented and kind Morgan Harper Nichols. You may know her from her huge presence on Instagram with almost 2 million followers! But there is so much more to her than just her follower count. She’s a best selling author with her next art and poetry book “You Are Only Just Beginning” coming out on Feb 14th. She’s the founder and artist behind the Storyteller App. You can find herMindful Digital Art class on Skillshare. And like me, she was diagnosed with Autism and ADHD at the end of 2020. I asked Morgan to fill out list #5 from 52 Lists for Happiness: List the best choices you have made in your life so far. Grab a copy of my best selling guided journal and join in our listing!
Streaming now on Apple Podcasts + Spotify Podcasts + Substack Podcasts.
In this episode we chat about:
Morgan’s journey to an Autism diagnosis at age 30 as a black woman, navigating racism, sexism and ageism within the health industry.
The importance of seeking out people in power who are willing to learn from those they are seeking to help.
The language of “Quirky” “Artsy” “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” are often masks for a girl struggling with the lack of a diagnosis of Autism.
Growing up as daughters of pastors and the othering, ablism and expectations placed upon us by our father’s congregations.
Uncovering and celebrating your passions that culture at large tells us to hide because it’s not typical/normal/average.
Our songwriting as a mode for expressing our feelings and needs as teens, when we couldn’t find words to speak and our parallels in pursuing music in our earlier lives. (Morgan had a record deal!)
After our own diagnoses, starting to see how Autism flows throughout our families.
Flavors of Autism: Morgan and I both grew up in likely autistic families who love to analyze narratives, pick apart social structures, biases, and observe humans as subjects to study. Understanding people is a core special interest to us both and to our families.
Over Thinking: As a society, we are not thinking over things enough! There’s a difference between ruminating and thinking deeply.
Mind Mapping and storing thoughts for later analyzation. Instead of trying to figure out a new concept in the immediate, put it in your memory bank, allow it to exist and flow with other thoughts and knowledge, and keep coming back to deepen understanding.
Ablism: not having the privilege of just dismissing something when we don’t understand.
Permission to say no, to not live up to cultural expectations that do not serve us as individuals.
Permission to just try, experiment, an allowance to fail and get back up and try again on the journey to finding what is best for us.
“I’m allowed to be curious,” the right response to anyone calling you “messy.”
The ability to have empathy for everyone and everything.
When your ability to feel someone at their core is louder than their words.
Multidimensional words.
Seeking Wellness as a daily practice not a quick fix found through one tool.
Our love of theme parks and roller coasters, the somatic release of flying through the air in a secure space.
THANK YOU’S:
An extra special thank you to audio editor, journalist and producer Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong for editing this audio podcast. We had an adorable interruption from Morgan’s 3 year old kiddo and some technical glitches and I bet you’d never know if I hadn’t told ya. Thank you Adwoa! And thank you to my friend, audio editor, producer and journalist Brandi Fullwood for introducing me to Adwoa, both of whom have done work for companies such as NPR, KUOW, BBC World Service, Audible, Pineapple Street and many more.
Thank you to Shelby Jones, a new friend met through Instagram who helped with editing today’s video podcast available on Youtube. Having Adwoa and Shelby jump in at the last minute to help with editing was such a life saver. This episode is so important to me, and Morgan’s story deserves to be heard. Thank you Shelby and Adwoa for making that happen.
Giving Yourself Permission to Thrive with Morgan Harper Nichols