For a while I attended a homeopath and I was neither blown away nor dismissive of the treatment. I liked it. The questions leading to a remedy were varied and interesting and one has stuck with me. The homeopath asked if I struggled to wear things close to my neck like shirts with collars or polo-neck jumpers. Yes! I'd always struggled to be comfortable in either of those things. The restriction was choking. Strangely though, I love a scarf. I wear a scarf in winter or summer, I wear a scarf in the house and out the house, I wear a scarf if I've dressed up and want to dress it down just a little and I wear a scarf with my pyjamas. I launder and press my scarves because they are important to me. I don't understand why I struggle with a collar and yet seek out a scarf. Anyway, not important, my point...

A scarf brings a sense of safety to me. A weight, a cuddle, an envelopment. With autism, and even as a support for Asperger syndrome and the related anxiety, a sense of calm can be brought with weighted blankets, beanbags to hold the body closer than a chair, and even with a weighted vest. I get something similar from a scarf.

In this season, whether it is the winter darkness or the Christmas frivolities which hurt, do you have a go-to physical thing to help bring you that safety, solidity and sense of being held onto? Maybe we could all benefit from some swaddling clothes.

Love from

The room above the garage

A Moodscope member.