Scattered and Collected
Scattered and Collected
The Spark
In early 2025, I saw a post on Facebook by cartoonist Nathan Pyle. He had compiled some haiku he’d written – witty snapshots of everyday life. I thought that I could write some of these, capturing moments of life with ADHD.
And so I did.
47, in fact, by the end of the day.
I think the combination of my love of words and language, plus my brain’s ability for pattern recognition, meant the haiku structure – 5-7-5 syllables – locked into my brain. All day, I was pausing, counting syllables on my fingers, and writing these haiku down.
First there’s one idea,
Then my brain pings with one more.
Now there’s 36.
The Flood
The following day, I wrote another twenty or so. I realised this collection of little poems could become a book.
I thought 100 poems was a nice round number to aim for – but then decided that either 99 or 101 would be better because, typical of ADHD, we always seem to be either not quite enough … or too much.
I had my 99 by the end of the week.
Showers are good for
washing but mostly thinking
and pondering life.
These poems weren’t just witty moments – although some genuinely made me laugh when they came to mind. There were deeper emotional truths, too. The often invisible load of trying to meet this world’s expectations. The grief of late diagnosis. The weight of masking.
And the contradictions of an ADHD brain – which, even within a single day, can make me shake my head and laugh … or cry in shame.
Scattered and Collected
Once I’d committed to turning this burst of creativity into a book, I came up with a title which reflected this contradictory nature of my brain: Scattered and Collected.
As it began to take shape, I knew this wouldn’t simply be a collection of ADHD quirks and stereotypes. It’s a glimpse into my inner world and my everyday life – and that of so many other neurodivergent people.
It’s for sitting with other ADHDers and saying, Hey – me too.
And it’s an invitation for those without ADHD to peek inside my brain for a moment or two. It’s a busy place in there.
I’m not impulsive.
I just have a problem with
the words “Add to Cart”.
Where did the dopamine go?
One of the challenges of ADHD and a project like this is what happens after the initial creative explosion.
There was a genuine fear that, like so many other projects over the years, what began with such a bang would end up on the permanent Unfinished pile.
But each time I’ve come back to this book – each time I read over a group of poems, each time I think of who this book is for – the fire still in my heart glows a little brighter.
I’ve continued to chip away at it (along with my 56 other creative projects currently on the go), brainstorming ideas for how this book could look … and overthinking every step.
Coloured or black and white?
Line drawings or my usual collages?
How many possible combinations are there for ordering 99 poems??
Scattered and Collected is on its way.
I think it will be worth the wait.
Something is coming.
ADHD + haiku
… when I finish it.
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