Living in the Wild with ADHD- Cindy North

Living in the Wild with ADHD- Cindy North Exploring ADHD through neuroscience, lived experience, and real life stories.

Writing the words was one thing. Now I’m watching them become a book.And I’m realizing how much the design matters, espe...
09/05/2026

Writing the words was one thing. Now I’m watching them become a book.

And I’m realizing how much the design matters, especially when I’m writing for a neurodivergent reader.

I know the feeling of picking up a book and thinking, Nope. Too thick. Too much text. Font too small. Page too crowded. My brain has made a decision before I’ve read a single word.

So as Living in the Wild moves through design, I’m thinking about all of it. White space. Font size. Margins. Visual cues. Color. How much is on a page before your brain decides whether it has the bandwidth to stay.

Because the words can be meaningful, but they aren’t much use if the reader can’t comfortably digest and absorb them.

This part matters deeply to me. I don’t just want you to read this book. I want the book itself to support your brain while you read it.

And that brings me to something I’d love your vote on:

Would having color throughout the book make the reading experience better for you, even if it meant paying a little more for the book?

🎨 YES. Color would add value for me.

🦓 NO. Keep the cost down. Color doesn’t matter much to me.

Tell me below. I’m designing this book with the reader in mind, and right now, your opinion can actually help shape it.

This book journey keeps giving me goosebumps.When I was encouraged to have a launch party, my first instinct was to fold...
09/04/2026

This book journey keeps giving me goosebumps.

When I was encouraged to have a launch party, my first instinct was to fold myself up like a little paper note and hide.

Then a client pointed me toward a space she thought would be perfect.

When I learned there are butterflies painted on the walls, I instantly knew exactly what I could read to the audience.

There’s a story in the book about what it actually takes to become a butterfly.

And here’s another little goosebump.

This is the same place where I’ve gone to work with the person who asked me what I really wanted to do.

I said, “Write a book to empower people with ADHD.”

And now I’m seriously thinking about going back with the book.

This work feels like it wants a party. 🦋 🦓

Stay tuned.

It’s getting real!! I met with the book fairy and saw the first pages of my book design this week and it’s way cool. 😎 a...
08/20/2026

It’s getting real!!

I met with the book fairy and saw the first pages of my book design this week and it’s way cool.

😎 and it’s looking like it will be printed in color. Pinch me!

Holy moly is it also nerve-racking to know we are almost a month away from when what I’ve talked about becoming real.

Who do you know that could use a book that delivers adhd neuroscience with a hug?

Help me reach other people impacted by ADHD by sharing the link to join the waitlist where I share the behind-the-scenes as this gets to publication.

No spam, just real lived experiences and first peeks. It me being me!

Hope you will join the movement that lets you embrace your stripes!

This is my story.Not because I think my experience explains yours, but because understanding my own story helped me fina...
08/13/2026

This is my story.

Not because I think my experience explains yours, but because understanding my own story helped me finally make sense of so much about myself.

The kid who never stopped moving. The imagination. The energy. The drive to work harder and keep going. The parts of me I learned to push, manage, question, and eventually understand.

ADHD gave me language for patterns that had been there all along.

Living in the Wild shares some of those stories alongside the neuroscience and perspectives that helped me see myself with more curiosity.

Your story will be different. I hope it is.

Maybe something in these pages will spark a memory, explain a pattern, or simply make you curious about your own stripes.

That is where I think the good stuff begins.

Living in the Wild: Embracing Your Stripes with ADHD hits Amazon October 1, 2026. 🦓

There is a part of writing a book I did not fully understand until I was in it.You can write about neuroscience. You can...
08/09/2026

There is a part of writing a book I did not fully understand until I was in it.

You can write about neuroscience. You can explain ADHD. You can share what you have learned through years of coaching.

But eventually, if you want the words to mean something, you have to be willing to let yourself be seen.

Living in the Wild asked that of me.

I had to look at the beliefs I carried for years. The ones that told me I was too much in some places and somehow not enough in others. The ones that kept showing up like alligators at the watering hole, even after I knew better.

Understanding my ADHD gave me language for my experience. Learning the science helped me understand my brain. But accepting myself meant something more.

It meant becoming curious about my stripes instead of trying to hide them.

It meant discovering what actually supports me and building best-fit practices around the brain I have, rather than continuing to fight to become someone I am not.

And it meant being willing to tell the truth about that journey.

There is vulnerability in these pages. My stories are woven throughout them, not because my way should become your way, but because perhaps seeing me more clearly will make it a little safer for you to see yourself.

That may be the part of this book that means the most to me.

Living in the Wild: Embracing Your Stripes with ADHD releases October 1, 2026.

Thank you for being here before these pages ever make their way into the wild. 🦓🧡

A little behind the scenes…This comic made me laugh because, in many ways, it’s my story.For years, I thought I needed t...
08/04/2026

A little behind the scenes…

This comic made me laugh because, in many ways, it’s my story.

For years, I thought I needed to become a better horse.

I spent so much energy trying to fit into a world that wasn’t designed for the way my brain works. Along the way, I collected beliefs that quietly shaped how I saw myself. They became like the alligators at the watering hole in Living in the Wild. Always there. Always waiting. Whispering that I wasn’t enough, wasn’t capable enough, or just needed to try harder.

Understanding my ADHD didn’t erase those alligators.

It taught me how to recognize them, how to tame them, and how to stop letting them decide where I could go.

That journey changed my life. It also shaped the coaching practice I’ve built. The work I do today isn’t something I learned only from books. It grew from living this story, understanding the science behind it, and discovering what actually helped me embrace my own stripes.

This comic may make you smile, but the story behind it is deeply personal.

Living in the Wild is that story.

It releases October 1, 2026.

If this message reminds you of someone who has been trying to become a better horse, would you help me bring Living in the Wild into the world by sharing this post?

Who in your life needs permission to embrace their stripes?

Join the waitlist:
https://forms.gle/2K66kPN71SY4nkb18

🦓

There comes a moment when you stop asking, “Why can’t I be more like everyone else?” and start asking a far more interes...
07/31/2026

There comes a moment when you stop asking, “Why can’t I be more like everyone else?” and start asking a far more interesting question.

“What makes me…me?”

That question changed my life.

Seeing your stripes isn’t about discovering a new version of yourself. It’s about recognizing the one who has been there all along.

For me, understanding ADHD didn’t change my personality, my values, or the things that make me come alive. It gave me language. It gave me context. It helped me understand why some environments felt energizing while others felt exhausting. Why curiosity has always been one of my greatest strengths. Why connection matters so deeply to me.

Most importantly, it helped me stop measuring myself against someone else’s blueprint.

We all have stripes. Some of us have differently wired brains.

Some are easy to see. And we are judged for them. Usually too much or not enough of something. The measuring stick gets exhausting.

Understand myself took time, curiosity rather than judgment, and compassion to recognize.

When you begin to understand your own difference, something shifts. You stop spending so much energy trying to fit into someone else’s pattern and begin appreciating the one that has always been uniquely yours.

Maybe that’s what seeing your stripes is really about.

Not becoming someone new.

Finally seeing yourself clearly.

💜 What is one quality about yourself that you appreciate today that you might have overlooked years ago?

It’s the chances and choices I took when my spirit was free before I knew better that led to a belief that creativity co...
07/30/2026

It’s the chances and choices I took when my spirit was free before I knew better that led to a belief that creativity could go wrong. My poor Mom who had to steer me. She had her work cut out for her. I can think of many things I repurposed. I laugh about it now. Back then yeah not so much.

See I didn’t have impulse control. I didn’t have the skill to forecast the outcome that could come when I cut Mom’s patio cushions for the fluff inside that could look like pretend horse feed or the time I used all my hair ribbons to make a pretty rainbow picture with glue! I learned the hard way - a lot.

Many ADHDer’s share similar experiences that tamped down what it meant to have a wildly creative brain. I recently share a story to those on my waitlist about cutting up my roller skates to make a Barbie horse carriage.

I don’t look back on those memories as bad anymore. I did for a long time. I saw myself as a bad kid and it made me lean into over-thinking and perfectionism. I swung the other way. I was still creative but would think it to death and never really be free to let it flow.

They are the moments I learned the hard lessons as a kid that let me be who I am now. I had to travel through it all.

Now I help kids and parents impacted by ADHD thrive with their wiring. I help parents harness their kids creativity and their kids sharpened their executive function skills.

I also remind parents that making mistakes and failing is okay. Their child has learned from the natural consequences. The brain is wired to learn this way. However it is not wired to learn from shaming. Shame sticks in a way that will dampen spirit. It forms beliefs that may not serve as a real truth.

I am forever thankful for my life and the moments in between. Growth happens in the choices and what happens next. Learning is a process. Working on beliefs in real work.

All my oops’s let me laugh at myself now. Humor helps. Coaching has helped. Sharing my essence self helps. Living let me embrace my stripes. I hope you will, too.

Lean into your dreams… and here we are. I wrote book. Feared it would never become real. Today I saw the first layout. I can’t wait to show you!!! It’s better than I ever believed possible.

Apparently, my relationship with effort has always been a little… selective.In math class, I could stare directly at the...
07/19/2026

Apparently, my relationship with effort has always been a little… selective.

In math class, I could stare directly at the assignment and feel absolutely no urge to participate. I actually painted my nails with my feet up in my desk instead of paying attention. Then adulthood arrived, and suddenly I was pouring everything I had into everything I did. A simple project became a full-scale production. “Good enough” sounded suspicious. One more revision always seemed reasonable, and pushing harder felt like the safest available plan.

So no, I did not grow up believing I was lazy. I learned to compensate. I became a perfectionist, an overthinker, and someone who could turn a small task into an Olympic event.

For years, I thought the answer was becoming an even better horse.

More disciplined. More prepared. More polished. Possibly equipped with a color-coded binder. Yes, I have one of those!

Then I began to understand my ADHD and realized the problem was not that I needed to become a better horse.

I was a zebra using horse instructions.

That explains a lot of how I tried to hold onto life. Through writing this book I learned what living in the wild with ADHD really was like for me. I was awakened to my own fragility I didn’t want to admit. The wild is still wild and I’m better equipped to live in it as I am. 🦓

Living In The Wild: Embracing Your Stripes With ADHD
Coming October 1, 2026.

Image created with AI and in Canva

I year ago I doubted if I could fully bring this book to life. I said out loud “what if I can’t finish it.” And, both of...
07/12/2026

I year ago I doubted if I could fully bring this book to life. I said out loud “what if I can’t finish it.” And, both of my kids expressed wholeheartedly that I would complete it. They believed in me then and have championed me since.

I missed four of my own self-imposed deadlines. I battled inner stories and shame I held secret for years. And I healed in the process.

If you are part of the Living In The Wild community you received an email today of the behind-the-scenes story of how “Wildy” came to be from across the ocean.

I look for meaning and signs. This glass zebra is my sign that my message is meant for the world. (I’ve written this one three times now and want so bad to give up having technology fail. And yet I write it again)

Living In The Wild: Embracing Your Stripes With ADHD is written for the person who has spent years wondering why life with ADHD seems to require so much more effort than it appears to for everyone else.

It is for the person who knows they are capable, yet struggles to consistently access that capability when it matters most.

It is for the one who has been called distracted, lazy, too much, too sensitive, inconsistent, irresponsible, or difficult, and quietly wondered if those words might somehow be true.

It is for the adult who received an ADHD diagnosis later in life and is trying to make sense of years that suddenly look different.

It is for the person who has lived with ADHD for years but still feels as though no one has ever explained what is actually happening inside their brain.

It is for the one who has learned to survive by working harder, masking more, apologizing often, and carrying the exhausting weight of believing they should be able to do better.

It is for the person who wants more than tips, tricks, or another productivity system. You want understanding. You want language for experiences that have been difficult to explain. You want to know yourself with greater clarity and compassion.

Most of all, this is a book for anyone who is ready to stop asking, “What’s wrong with me?” and begin asking, “How was I wired, and what becomes possible when I begin working with that wiring?”

You are not entering a book or community about fixing yourself.

You are entering a journey of discovering the stripes that have been yours all along.

And I am here with you.

Join the community to read behind-the-scenes of an ADHD author and get sneak peaks before the book reaches Amazon.

Available on Amazon on October 1, 2026.

When I blink next it will be here.

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Versailles, KY

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