The Magic of Neuroemergent Time
I have been following Marta at Divergent Design Studios for a handful of years now, and it delights me to see everything she's done and the community she's created (which I am officially a member of, as of today). If you have ADHD and/or autism and you don't know Marta's work yet, I highly encourage you to download her free e-book on neuroemergent time, because I'm going to be referencing it in this post.
What does neuroemergent mean?
"Neuroemergent" is a term Marta created as an alternative to "neurodivergent". "Emergence," in this sense, is defined by the word of adrienne maree brown, who describes emergence as "fractal, adaptive, interdependent & decentralized, non-linear & iterative, resilient & transformative, justice-oriented, creating more possibilities." To apply this to my non-neurotypical experience of life and myself and the world was... honestly, such a game-changer for me. As Marta so beautifully states, "I've been looking for a word that describes what I am, rather than what I diverge from." While there's nothing necessarily wrong with the term neurodivergent, what "neuroemergent" does is describe a way of being that exists on its own, not in opposition to another way of being.
What is neuroemergent time?
"Neuroemergent time" is how Marta describes neuroemergent brains' experience of time. As opposed to industrial time, neuroemergent brains experience time as spiralic or elliptical instead of linear and straightforward. What I find particularly validating about Marta's work is how she describes the necessity of slow periods, or periods when you "slip out of time." While neuroemergent brains can accomplish a lot in a very short period of time in the on the other side of the elliptical, it's not sustainable to perform at that level constantly, and people with ADHD and/or autism especially need time to spin out in space and lose themselves in their mind palace.
Why neuroemergent time and astrology go so well together
Astrology, if you wanted to reduce it to simple terms, is a study of the spiralic nature of time. When Marta was describing elliptical time that functions not like a perfect circle, but more like an oval, I couldn't help but think about the elongated orbits of certain planets and asteroids. I can't help but think about astrology, period, when Marta talks about neuroemergent time. Astrologers are keenly aware that time moves in spirals and that certain themes or events can find themselves repeating throughout time in a fractal-like nature, each small piece of meaning containing the structure of the larger meaning. We understand that, from our viewpoint here on Earth, the planets have their own cycles of speeding up and slowing down and even coming to complete stops. I find this to be incredibly encouraging. The planets work on neuroemergent time, and they're the most natural things I can think of, so how can the way my brain works be considered unnatural or wrong?
Simple answer: it's not. More and more these days, I truly believe that astrology was formed by neurodivergent--or rather, neuroemergent--brains. And there's something truly potent about the flexibility of time, both as it is proven in the universe by physicists and as it is experienced by neuroemergent brains.
The connection between neuroemergence and money
We've established that for most folks with ADHD and/or autism, our experience of time is vastly different than that of our "neurotypical" counterparts. If the phrase "time is money" is to hold any relevance still, then what does that mean for our experience of money? I feel that neuroemergent time is the reason why so many Au/DHDers find themselves incompatible with traditional forms of employment and income creation. The relentless grind of industrial time--eight hour workdays, weekends, "sick time," et cetera--is incompatible with our planet as a whole, in my opinion, and it's absolutely incompatible with the bendiness of time as Au/DHDers experience it.
Industrial time wouldn't be so terrible, perhaps, if it wasn't the only option. Imagine a world where you can choose your experience of time, completely disconnected from the imperative to sell your labor in exchange for the necessities of living. It may feel like a pipe dream, but there is a path forward that can allow you to get closer to this ideal, and it's the path of passive income (don't forget that I have a handy free guide on getting started with that). When you have the ability to create income for yourself outside of the bounds of industrial time, then money can appear in your bank account overnight--or, perhaps more importantly, when you haven't done any work in weeks because you're in the "gathering stardust" phase of neuroemergent time, as Marta calls it.
Final thoughts
I'm excited to explore these concepts further with you all, but for now, I just wanted to share my thoughts and get your gears turning about how we can better relate to time and money through our own neuroemergence. If you're interested in learning more about the history of money, we are currently reading Sacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein in the Anticapitalist Book Club. Join The Speakea$y for more information on the book club and how to get Sacred Economics for free.
