Depending on who it is, I either ask them how they've been, apologize for who I was back then, or turn 360° and moonwalk out of there

Terrible cosplay. The Knights Who Say Ni never used firearms.

The panther is like a leopard,
Except it hasn't been peppered.
Should you behold a panther crouch,
Prepare to say Ouch.
Better yet, if called by a panther,
Don't anther.

(Ogden Nash)

It made more sense when I started thinking of humans as animals. In that context it's like dogs sniffing butts or ants touching antennae when they meet. I eventually settled on a few generic responses that felt less fake than "fine" (idk why "fine" rankles me so much but "not too bad" doesn't, but eh) but didn't elicit further questions, and that made it slightly easier.

I agree with the other commenters that you should spend some time outside your comfort zone but pace yourself very carefully. The article mentioned a proximal zone that's outside but adjacent to the comfort zone. I think it's good to mostly shoot for that with occasional planned forays further out just to test yourself.

IMO nobody should be telling you when to go outside your comfort zone or how far, or whether you're doing it enough, unless it's someone close to you whose opinion you can trust and who you know will hear you out when you say you're overwhelmed. And even then you still have veto power because you're the one who has to deal with the fallout if you push yourself too far and melt down or burn out. I don't ever see any NT folks volunteering to help people clean up their life after that except maybe social workers and therapists.

The flip side of this is that since nobody can tell you how much is too much, you're responsible for monitoring that yourself and communicating or removing yourself before you get overwhelmed. That's a good use for the proximal zone - testing your boundaries and keeping an eye on your mood so you can learn to spot when you are approaching your limit. Easier said than done, but I've found it worth the effort. And it gets easier with time.

The other thing to recognize is that some days your comfort zone is pretty big and other days it's about as big as your bed. Asking yourself "how big is my comfort zone today" helps you give yourself some grace. If it's a bed day and you got out of bed, you already exited your comfort zone and should factor that in when you plan your day.

slim down

Welp that lets me out

They're a timber company

It took a lot for me to get out of bed today. And then you had to go and show me this.

When the going gets weird, the weird go pro.

Being a responsible adult with ADHD means kind of doing both in a controlled way. What I mean by that is, ADHD gives you some deficits and difficulties. On the one hand, you can't use it as an excuse to not work on those difficulties and do your best. On the other hand, you also shouldn't be hard on yourself if your best sometimes doesn't measure up to other people's expectations. And for your sanity you should always give yourself breaks from working on yourself.

Somewhat. I still have some of the visual images in my head, but the memory of how I felt at those times is gone or very faded. Often the memories feel, not exactly dreamlike, but like I am looking at a diorama or one of those paperweights that has a scene encased in resin, forever visible but inaccessible.

I've started to forget my dad's voice a bit and it scares me. I don't want to forget anything about him ever.

My therapist said that you don't really remember things, you just remember the last time you remembered them. Like a copy of a copy. And that's how memories get distorted over time. So it's like, am I ruining those memories by remembering them, like a tape you play over and over til you wear it out? Or should I play the tapes anyway in case I hit my head or have a stroke or something and lose a bunch of them?

Only reason I can think of is to get in on the ground floor of the fediverse and eat its lunch.