Post a Dating Profile

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Howdy, all!

I wrote my earlier "dating profile" in this thread back when I was in a very deep mental hole, and in full-on self-deprecation mode, bordering on imminent self-destruction. I have since recovered to a significant degree. I've been in the East since mid October, visiting family here in Florida and also some friends in the Northeast.

Also, with the help of some dear friends, and after a year of consideration, I have very recently self-diagnosed with ADHD, and have discovered that the applicable meds do wonders for some of my most serious "issues" that have so plagued my life. I'll have to get an official diagnosis, of course, to qualify for a prescription, and I'll look into that.
My previous diagnosis from two years ago of ASD Level 1 certainly still rings VERY true, but my still very nascent understanding of ADHD really fills in the gaps in understanding that remained after the ASD diagnosis, and which I had previously filled with a self-diagnosis of PDA. I think the PDA criteria still apply very accurately to me, but PDA is not an official diagnosis in the USA, and there seems to be a significant overlap between PDA and ADHD.

I've also resumed being on online dating services in earnest, for the first time since 2008, and it's been very interesting! Even when being very open about my issues, I've managed to have some amazing conversations with some fascinating women in their 50s. There has been more than a hint of self-realization in these women that they are likely undiscovered neurodivergents, rather confirming my suspicion that I'm perhaps only fully compatible with women with such a mindset. My retrospective look at my past relationships, including those that never came to be, but became friendships, makes me realize just how massively over-represented neurodivergence is among those women that I've previously, and recently, been able to emotionally connect with...

Here's what I have as the current main text of my profile on a major dating site (one that was the source of 4 of the 5 dates I ever went on, all those years ago):

"TRAVEL NOTE:
I live in Nevada, but I'm in Leesburg, Florida, at the moment, visiting family.
I should be back in Nevada some time in December or January.

I am a very altitudinous Zen Objectivist, and an iconoclastic conformist, a laser-focused dilettante, a skeptical psychonaut, a former boy genius and currently stoopit man.

I am a VERY late-diagnosed Autistic Human (AuDHD), daftly intellectual, temporally transient, conventionally-underperforming eternal outsider with a deep interest in delving into the minds of my fellow misfits.

I will befuddle and impress you in alternate turns, and leave a lasting impression that will require some processing time to integrate.

I have a vast array of technical, mental and communication skills, vastly underutilized due to the many challenges engendered by my neurotype. Equally broad is the remaining unexplored territory of my own interests, connections to others and self-realization. Exploring this uncharted domain is an endeavor of never ending allure.

Time spent learning something new is never wasted, whether that knowledge is of another mind, a new place, a useful skill or a simple fact.

Kindled in the Northeast, I rebooted my life in the Summer of 2009 and drove my rattletrap old car out West, where I've been ever since, more or less. I'm ready for another big change, but a new course of navigation hasn't yet coalesced for me. Perhaps my favorite option is to simply remain just where I am in physicality, but restart my existence in every other way. Starting over in fresh surroundings is also appealing.

I hope to find someone with a mind running on wetware wired in a similarly atypical way as my own. One who has not yet been completely vanquished by the passage of time nor the torments and delights of this maddening pseudo-reality that most seem to accept without reflection.

Also of interest are those who although they are neurotypical, have lived close enough to the high fence dividing humanity to have often listened to those of us on the other side through the gaps in the boards, and learned to speak our language. I would love to take advantage of your ability to translate your world for me, and would hope to return the favor.

I find the Japanese art of Kintsugi to be applicable when contemplating the flaws that beset us all. Instead of attempting to conceal or erase our fractured elements, why not artistically highlight the joins that made us whole again?

The far too-concise version of my current financial status is that I spent 13 years in total submission to the plans and dreams of my ex partner.

I was essentially her full time unpaid builder, rental property repairman, grease monkey, equipment operator, IT technician, online sales and purchasing coordinator, long-range trucker, animal housing builder, self-defense instructor and security provider, and MANY other roles.

I was always happy to be all of this and more for her, to the full extent of my limited energy.

But my own personal projects and financial gains always took a lower priority.

So, my income during this time was very limited. My current "assets" are meager and illiquid.

When the relationship ended, I was left with what amounts to a restart of my life.

Although I now know much more about the sources and potential workarounds of my limitations, how this will play out from here on out is quite the mystery, one that I find tantalizing, not overwhelming.

I've had to develop a level of resiliency that I did not possess in my younger years. I hope that this will allow me to cope with my new life situation well, but there can be NO promises about a specific level of performance in the financial realm.

No one owes me anything, in regard to accommodating my HIGHLY unusual life experience or my "failure to thrive" (so far), by any conventional measure, so please skip right past my profile, if you've managed to read this far, and find my "score" in life too low to meet your expectations."

Here's a recent photo of me, one of the variety I have been using on the dating site(s):



It's NOT up to my former standard of only using properly artistic photo techniques for profile photos, to be sure, but is also a realistic image of what my nearly two-meter-tall odd bod looks like, at the moment...

I also have a potentially significant upcoming event in my life, likely in March, when I will very likely be a volunteer subject in a clinical trial at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for a 5-week in-patient fMRI study. I am very much looking forward to this!

One of the most interesting parts of attempting to "match" here, is that any potential mate can go back and peruse the whole of one's publicly-revealed Arc of Madness on this site.

How very cool, and what better way to filter out those who "can't handle the truth"?

It might also be interesting to have those that are interested in profiles here to respond publicly, in this thread, if willing. Those that have posted profiles here should probably indicate their willingness to be "openly courted".

I, for one, would be happy to oblige any public responses, mediocre though the "prize" that is me may be...

It would be fascinating to witness at least the overtures of Autistic Courtship here, before privacy and decorum necessitate the furtherance of the budding relationship to be taken behind closed doors.

What I propose would be in a different form than the rather exploitative "Love On The Spectrum" format...

^^^

People can post as much or as little as they'd like. I caution against sharing our personal and identifying information but everything else is fair game, if members want to be more candid.

The point of this thread is for us to practise writing dating profiles, since many have mentioned having difficulty attracting people through online dating.

Constructive or friendly feedback is welcome, though.