Aurora gets honest about impact of neurodivergence on career

Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora is opening up about being neurodivergent.

Aurora has previously hinted to fans that she’s neurodivergent, which means her brain functions differently from a neurotypical or normal brain. The word encompasses autistic spectrum disorders and ADHD.

Speaking for the first time about how it impacts her career as a musician, the Runaway hitmaker said, "With age and with time, I’ve become a bit better at managing being neurodivergent, and trying to not completely overwhelm myself until a point of no return.

"It’s not spoken about so much: neurodivergence and artistry – how they’re so meant for each other, but also so not," she explained.

"The opposite of what you want and need from this world is everything that comes along as a ripple effect from just you making your music," she pointed out.

Like any neurodivergent person, Aurora struggles with executive function, which includes mental components of working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibition control, which impacts skills like planning, organizing, sticking to things longterm, completing tasks, decision-making, problem-solving, and self-monitoring.

"It can be really hard when it’s not things that are burning in my chest, where I can go into hyperfocused mode and forget that I have a body," she said.

"When I perform, it’s very easy to forget that I’m tired or sick; it’s just gone, which is very cool. But with things that are more through the head and not the heart, it can be really difficult from day to day," she explained.

Since she spends a lot of time traveling, Aurora has mastered the use of her time to do things she enjoys.

"I’m quite good at letting all the wishy-washiness of this life trigger good things in me," said Aurora.

"Like, if I travel a lot, I use that time to read a book or draw. I make it cosy. When I feel time is just wasting away, waiting to arrive somewhere or whatever, I escape into my brain and I really like it there. And I find it very easy," she gushed.