Donna Williams om job

Donna Williams i "Somebody somewhere":

"In my book I had an intuitive understanding that I was in some ways very old and in some very young. . . . I knew I was clever and also stupid and that I was stable and also mixed-up. What has begun to dawn on me now is how I can use this understanding to plan for a future where I will not feel torn apart by being asked too much or having no opportunities to express and help develop my less brilliant parts of me.

Whenever I had a job, I tried to run it and make it totally systematic. Whenever I had an intellectually demanding job, I kept falling into "holes" all the time. I now know these are holes in the consistency of my own abibilities - on all levels.

I could never reconcile (nor could employers or friends) why I wanted to work as a cleaner or clerk when I had abilities that could be used in higher-skilled jobs, but now I understand that in order to hold it together my ultimate aim ought to be to find a comfortable place that falls somewhere in the middle of my abilities"