I always thought a disability was something that made your life harder. Something that meant you had to accept some help from other people just to function on the level of 'normal life'. A mental disorder makes it harder to deal with life, more likely for things to really mess up your plans, right? But that's not really been my experience. I've found that being multiple has made a lot of things in my life easier and better.
First of all, WE are much more mentally flexible than I am. I don't have to be good at everything, nor do I have to enjoy everything. Each of us has areas in life where we are happier, stronger, or more able. And instead of one Me trying to do and be everything a person needs to do and be, I can share that workload with my alters. For instance, I don't like driving very much. Yes, I drive; it's a necessary part of being a grown-up. But I don't like to do so. I'd much rather just get where I'm supposed to be and skip the part between. You know what? I can do that! Jarett does most of the car-driving for my system. He's very calm and steady and doesn't mind doing it. So when it's time to go somewhere, I shift to Jarett, and come back out when we arrive at our destination. When it comes to giving advice or comforting a friend who needs it, Counselor joins me and together we take care of that - she's more warm and motherly than I am by myself. And so on. Each of us has things that we're better at. So we switch around as needed.
Some of my life that is made easier by DID could be chalked up to pure laziness. I don't like to drive. I have a pretty poor memory for names anyway - now I have an excuse for forgetting them. If I get bored with something that's happening, I can just switch out and let someone else handle it.
I have learned that we are a person that is motivated by variety. I've always had a low boredom threshold. I like to be doing several things at once that are quite different. I don't just put up laundry - I put up laundry while singing to some music and while supper is cooking, stopping every few minutes to check my Facebook. From the outside, it looks like I'm just really good at multitasking. Instead, we're sharing. Kiara might be singing, while Sam's making snarky comments online, Jarett's keeping an eye on the food, and Counselor's checking clothes to see what needs to be thrown out. And it all gets done, and we feel energized by working together.
A variety of experiences fulfills me/us. You should see my music playlist - light rock, showtunes, alt club music, crooners, movie soundtracks, country, christian, disney, bollywood, gypsy, opera, jazz, oldies rock, reggae, you name it. That's because we all like different sounds. But we share our listening. We like that same variety in our friends, our bdsm-play, our reading choices, our shopping - everything. And because there are six of us active, almost anything will appeal to at least one of us.
Did you know mutliples don't have to sleep as much as singletons? I'm usually good with six hours of sleep a night, and can get by on four hours for about a week if we have to. The body needs a certain amount of rest, but part of your sleep cycle is to refresh your mind. If one of the alters is in control, I can sometimes 'sleep' inside without having to pay attention to what's going on. Which means I don't need that sleep at night, as long as the body is taken care of.
And of course, the obvious part - I am almost never alone by myself. When I need company, there's some right there inside my head. Bad part - I can almost never be alone when I want to. But I rarely want to be alone. Rubi likes solitude a little more than the rest of us, but generally we all like lots of company - and have it all the time.
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