A bit of backstory

Okay, let's get stuck in. Let's lay the groundwork.

My name is Will. I'm 32, and I'm an animator for TV shows. I currently live in Kilkenny with my wife, Estelle, and my dog, Cinnamon.

I met Estelle while studying at the University of Lincoln, and we moved in together immediate after graduating. Lincoln is my hometown, which was, on one hand, very convenient for me, as I had my family around me, and, on the other hand, very inconvenient for us as a couple, as I had my family around me.

For reasons I didn't yet understand, and will elaborate on soon, I felt very uncertain about entering adulthood. Although my childhood was chaotic, I felt weirdly confident in myself; perhaps through a fortunate combination of well-chosen role models, parents who supported my artistic expression and a general chemical equilibrium in my brain, I've generally felt relaxed and assured about who I am. The uncertainty came more from how I would navigate life.

A year or so after graduating, Estelle and I both secured work at an animation studio in Belfast. Although still a studio in the UK, this was a big deal because we wouldn't just be moving out of Lincoln - we would be moving overseas. The chaos of family life was, at the time, about as potent as I had ever remembered, and I must admit, for all the stress of moving, I was not all that sad to leave. I was more excited about being able to strike out on my own, with a little more agency as an independent adult.

This little mission I set for myself, to learn to be independent, was largely a success. I've made a name for myself as a capable and reliable animator in the Irish industry, and have secured a permanent contract in my current studio as an Animation Lead.

All the while, though, there was a niggling concern. Certain cognitive inadequacies I had as a child weren't going anywhere. Becoming an adult hadn't shifted them - I was still scatterbrained, chronically untidy and always running late. My self-assured demeanour was being gradually eaten away, year by year, while (as I saw it) I was maturing physically, but not mentally.

Conversations with neurodivergent friends and colleagues led me, belatedly, to seek a psychiatric assessment... and last year, I was diagnosed with ADHD. It's hard to overstate the impact of that diagnosis, nor the medication I've been taking. It's mad - I have lived with an undiagnosed neurodevelopmental disorder for over 30 years, and I am still in the process of unspooling my thoughts and memories to make better sense of why I am me, but this blog is part of it.

I'll continue this. Now I've gotten some of the then out of the way, future posts will centre more on the now.

The reason I'm even typing this is due to the Ritalin. I'll save that for the next post, but the way my brain behaved this morning was very interesting.