Adaptive Art and Writing Tools For a writer, artist, student, or anyone that writes or draws, pain and inflammation can be devastating. After years of worstening symptoms and nearly quitting, I adapted both my style and set of writing and art tools so that I can continue to do both, even while the results are different. Physical Limitations During my life, I had experienced occasional carpal tunnel syndrome. However, in my 40s a confluence of conditions (autoimmune and arthritic) brought me to being barely able to hold a pen, knife, or fork. Fingers swelled, as did my palm and thumb. I would wake up with trigger thumb. I went from taking (and teaching) art and comics courses and improving my skills, to being able to barely scratch out my name. These days, I have workarounds. True, I still cannot grip or use a regular pen or pencil alone, I cannot erase, and circles continue to be near impossible. But there is hope. I have found preferred writing and art implements and mobility too...
What is ASMR? The ASMR universe is one of the internet's triumphs. Dimly-lit YouTube videos of whispers, role plays, and relaxing sounds and visuals are far beyond the childhood imaginations of many born before the turn of the millenium. As a Gen-Xer who lived half of my life without the interwebs, I never could have imagined as an 80s child that (using an '80s-futuristic-cartoon-character- Inspector Gadget-style touchscreen portable phone encased in purple indestructible plastic) that I might enjoy (and find stress relief) from a self-created video of someone, who is dressed as a psychadelic plant and whispering about unblocking creativity, on a recording that was uploaded to a gobal public video platform. (Give this video from Nebula ASMR a chance!) But here we are. So what is ASMR? " Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response " (said to have first been described in 2010 by Jennifer Allen, creator of a Facebook group on the subject) is a nice tingly feeling one feels ...