Why I Created Erthworm

My post content

I’ve dealt with ADHD most of my life, and it sucks.
I didn’t even get diagnosed until I almost crashed out in the Navy. By then, I’d already built up imposter syndrome, paranoia, and that constant feeling of being weird. Add childhood trauma and racism I’ve experienced my whole life, and it felt like carrying bricks everywhere I went. I thought I was dumb or had a learning disability. I didn’t know ADHD also came with superpowers. When I find something interesting, I lock in with hyperfocus. That’s led me to become good at a bunch of random skills and hobbies that those hobbies become job opportunities. But on the flip side? My lack of common sense and control of my emotions used to turn my life into a hilarious nightmare.

Finding soulutions to my ADHD

I tried to do the book thing, you know, read a bunch and pretend like you gained some sort of knowledge. I’ve read and spent so much on self-help books, and even majored in psychology for a short period, but I realized most self help books are useless. Too long. Too repetitive. And they never really give you a solution to your problem. I didn’t need another lecture; I needed tools and solutions. Don’t get me wrong, I did learn a lot from reading, but I believe I could develop an easier form of gaining knowledge without having to sit through a 30-minute YouTube video of bad jokes and advertisements, reading a 200+ page book, or buying an app that tries to gamify or turn your life into an RPG

How it started: struggling in the Navy

After I survived the Navy (stories for another post), I had to figure out how to survive adulthood. I joined the Navy at 19 solely for one thing only, to get my GI Bill so I could go to art school, and spent most of my adult life overseas. One thing I remember I loved to do was just people-watch. I came from a small town and did not know how the world and people work, so I used this opportunity to learn about human behavior while in the Navy and found the Navy is reverse high school that takes broke kids from small towns, gives them money, pride, peer pressure, and alcohol, and turns naive, innocent young people into demons or trapped, broken spirits. Pride in job titles—I somehow avoided most of the propaganda—and finally, after more than a decade of partying and anxiety attacks, I was able to leave to go back to school and build a new life. That’s when I started creating Erthworm.

Civilian Life: Learning to Adult While Competing with AI

I was supposed to graduate with a degree in web design… then my school shut down two months before I finished. Around the same time, AI was exploding. Suddenly, people had the power to do anything, but most were just making profile pics for Facebook. Meanwhile, AI was swallowing up creative and tech jobs like a black hole. And that’s when my dumb self decided to continue school for Graphic Design while working four different jobs at the same time and going to school full-time. Luckily, I already had my focus locked in on developing Erthworm, and I spent the last three years illustrating, writing, and developing the system and media I wanted to create.

What is Erthworm?

Erthworm is a picture-book strategy guide mental game of survive reality and society. It’s inspired by nature, storytelling, and everyday survival. Unlike the usual 300-page self-help books, Erthworm is short: less than 40 pages, half illustrations, just practical tools, concepts, and strategies to build your own story.

Why Is Erthworm Different From Other Self-Help Books?

I believe Erthworm is different from anything else out right now, from books to apps, and one of the main reasons is that I developed it for myself. I needed a system to build optimism, fight stress, and balance my life while preventing me from chasing impulses and viewing everything negatively—while working multiple jobs and going to school full-time. Erthworm saved my life. And if you’re human, need help, or struggle with ADHD, it might help you too.