I've have a number of violent tics. With Tourette syndrome, there's not just compulsive actions, but compulsive thoughts as well. That used to scare my mother a lot.
Dash MihokI feel like my soul yearns to experience something new at all times. That may be an encounter with a new place or persons or a song that plays and urges me to dance in a different way. I come alive when there is a chance to learn or do something different.
Dash MihokMy biggest life lesson is that the past is the past. I do my best not to bring history into my present. It ain't ever easy, but it usually creates more opportunity for joyful experiences.
Dash MihokBeing with my family and loved ones makes me feel vulnerable. Speaking my truth and then being that in action. Leaving my comfort zone but knowing that risk is going to create something beautiful. I believe I have come to good terms with my vulnerability. I welcome it now, where I didn't in the past.
Dash MihokIn the years when teenagers really need to be connected to somebody, they aren't; especially in small towns where kids are bored and look for something to get them going.
Dash MihokHere's the thing: I had never been to Boston, my whole life. Probably because I'm a Yankee fan.
Dash MihokI had this tic where I touch my mouth to my knee, and I'm always screwing up my back. I've had two shoulder surgeries. My doctor just smiles and laughs at me.
Dash MihokI'm a morning "spinner." That's usually when my brain is thinking too much and I don't necessarily see things positively. So I sit myself down and remember that I'm making it up. I believe we are creating in every moment - making up our reality, so to speak - so when anything gets chaotic or I feel spun out, I remind myself that everything is an interpretation. I can look at it differently and make it work for me in a more positive light.
Dash MihokI do my best to allow myself to really feel it [emotional pain]. Cry. Get all in it. Really experience my experience so that I may move through it. And talk about it. I try not to let anything get brushed over and swept under the rug.
Dash MihokThere's moments when you have to make a split-second decision that will form you for the rest of your life.
Dash MihokWhen they [young people] believe they are the difference! That their voice matters and to use the incredible power each one of them has. I work with an amazing young man, Jaylen Arnold, who started a foundation and a movement to educate people about tolerance and to stop bullying when he was eight years old. He never ceases to inspire me.
Dash MihokPeople believe that if you can shut your Tourette's off for a period of time, then you can always shut it off. I try to explain to people that if I spent my whole life trying to control my tics, that's all I would have time for.
Dash MihokI would ask everyone to remember, in any situation we are experiencing, that we can come from a place of fear or love. I would say, however uncomfortable it may be sometimes to get to that root, to please take that extra time and courage to come from a place of love.
Dash Mihok