My "Right Difficult": A Work in Progress

I encountered a brilliant article written by Dr. Edward Hallowell in 2022 for ADDitude Magazine. He asks us 'what is your right difficult?' He describes this as a challenging, captivating outlet for creativity that helps you feel right about life. Hallowell also writes about this concept in the book ADHD 2.0 by both Hallowell and John J Ratey M.D., published in 2022.

To be considered a “right difficult”, it must satisfy two criteria. The first is an activity that challenges us. For example, an activity that stimulates our brains and offers us a challenge. The second is that this activity must captivate us, interest us, and that is also in our wheelhouse. 

People with ADHD struggle to initiate or stay with an activity that does not interest or challenge us. Hallowell says that this happens often at first in our childhoods. We “fall in love” with an idea, a process, a person, cars, sports, music, subject, places, animals, poetry, writing, etc., and it changes our lives.

Our wheelhouse is a place in our lives, in our psyches, or our souls, where everything goes that we love. Every person, activity, skill, tool, idea, and object go into this spot. So, your “right difficult” is a combination of elements from this place, with enough difficulty to keep us enthralled for our entire lives. Hallowell states that he found his, which is writing, when he was in 5th grade. He says that his writing sustains him through everything else in his life. For those of us with ADHD, creativity and innovation are an internal driving force. A lot of people do not understand this, and when this force is stifled by problems with executive functioning, this need to create often appears as chaos, rebellion, and an inability to function.

For me, this has always been drawing and painting. I once described it as my “MOJO”, and that it made me fall in love with life. While I prioritized my need to create, and illustrate, everything else in my life seemed to go more smoothly. I easily entered into flow states, and I thought more clearly, minimizing rumination. I am only now placing a priority on this in my life. I undervalued my need for this and have spent many years ignoring this need and it has left me depressed and disconnected. I have just started my journey of reinvigorating my art flow, and plan on sharing my art as I progress.

 Header image - Screengrab from ADDitude article by Edward Hallowell, MD.