A difficult issue this week.  Our feature article is a look at the Alberta Government putting into place an Alberta Equivalent of “Clare’s Law”.  It’s a law that is about domestic abuse, in a fashion.  I hate these types of articles, even though they’re needed, in part because they’re needed, but also because they force me to seek out images appropriate to the subject matter.

You’d probably be surprised at just how disturbing images under the term “domestic abuse” can be, even on a relatively corporate stock image delivery site.  I have no idea how moderators responsible for open forums such as Facebook and Youtube can handle what must be posted there.

It’s also difficult because I just started a new course of medication.  Long story short, I am now officially diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (combined) as a verified medical condition.  The “combined” is because there’s two general types – one that leans more toward the attention deficit and the other that leans toward the hyperactivity, and, lucky me, I’ve got both—which is apparantly the most common.

Over the years, I’ve of course developed my own coping strategies for this (as an editor, I’ve absolutely had to) even if I didn’t know that’s what I was doing at the time.  But there’s always been the sense that perhaps things should be better or easier somehow.  Now I understand where that sense comes from.

And in some ways it’s a good thing.  It’s nice to finally have reasonable answers to questions like “why do you have just a part-time job at your age, with your credentials and abilities?” beyond me being a bit of a flake or odd duck.  (Though if I’m being honest, I have to admit that I’ve gotten to the point where I consider being an odd duck as a point of pride.)  Also, there are a number of medications that can supposedly help with my condition.

But I don’t really know what that means.  “My condition,” after all, is part of how I live my life.  The one I’ve been living since I’ve been born.  It’s tough to describe how it feels when you start thinking that you may have been living it somehow “wrong” since the day you were born.  I have no perspective to know what “right” is going to look like.  And it’s weird to think that a drug could change that.

But I’m trying one now, and we’ll see how it pans out.  They start you off on a low dose, and I can’t say I’m noticing any positive effects yet, though I have noticed a killer head-ache, hence the timing of this issue, my apologies.

In the meantime, this week, we also have a student chosen reading list for October, a look at why your corporate culture smells, music reviews, recipes, events, scholarships, what’s going on around the various AU related social media, and, of course, advice ranging from how to get meaning out of that massive text-book you’ve been trying to read to what it means to be friends as we get older and further on in our careers and lives.  Plus some interesting thoughts on perfectionism and also how video games can effect our learning and what it means in the larger sense.

Enjoy the read!