About Jesse Meadows
This is a newsletter about disability and deviance by Jesse Meadows.
Sluggish is a pejorative: sluggish markets, sluggish progress. Historically it’s been used to refer to sloth and laziness, deadly sins of Puritanism. Recently it’s been applied clinically, with the not-yet-official diagnosis of “sluggish cognitive tempo” — symptoms of which include day-dreaming and mind-wandering.
As a disabled person, slowing down and honoring my body’s rhythms meant I literally had to become more sluggish, and it’s been a crucial part of accepting all the queer things about myself that the world would have me hate. So I’ve decided to reclaim this word.