Hello, Dear Reader!
So I wear Zox wristbands to help reframe my neuroplasticity from negative to positive thinking. I’ve been doing it for a few weeks now, and silly as it sounds—it’s a hack.
Not only do these wristbands help get me out of a downward spiral, they assert some of my more precious values and identities—the ones that bring me closer to the collective, vs. leading to feelings of further isolation. I don’t expect them to have this effect for everyone… or even for the majority, frankly… but the soft texture, the strong words, the vivid colors, the location near vital arteries—they really trigger a deep chord in me.
For instance, if I’m having passive suicidal thoughts, I wear my “Life is Precious” wristband…which is covered in gemstones, so it’s also my “Gemstones are alive” wristband, i.e., all things are alive and precious. I like wearing it out in the garden sometimes to celebrate the life of my plants.
If I’m feeling excluded, I wear my “Together” wristband, which has neat little puzzle pieces all over it, so it’s also my “I’m proud of being autistic” wristband.
If I’m feeling helpless and/or hopeless, I wear my “You are Enough” wristband, which doubles as a geometric pattern—a pattern of something much greater, and much more hopeful, than the shitstorm often confined within the human machine—and if I’m having a simply awful way, I dual-wield “You are Enough” and “Life is Precious,” one on each wrist, like Bracers of Armor Class 4 (2nd edition Dungeons & Dragons joke) (now who feels excluded!? 😎).
If I’m wearing an outfit that I think is cute, but my social anxiety a.k.a. internal critic screams, You cannot possibly think we’re going in public like this, I wear my “Cat’s Pajamas” wristband, then I walk around feeling like I’m in the emperor’s pajamas.
If I’m feeling adventurous, I wear my “Something New” wristband.
So here’s the thing: If you spend $30 on Zox through this link, (which is 3 wristbands) (3 is a lucky number, yo,) I get another wristband. And every wristband is a hack into my brain. Which means, I truly appreciate when you spend $30 through this link. I don’t appreciate it in the sense that I’m a sponsor getting a paycheck. I appreciate it in the sense I’m an artist who has rough days (well who doesn’t!?) (artist-style cluck-cluck), and for reasons I can explain—and other reasons I can’t explain—these wristbands perk me up.