In the beginning

My life has been a journey amongst mental illness. 20 years ago my brother and closest friend developed schizophrenia. Personally I have lived with depression, post natal depression and then a diagnosis of bipolar. I have had periods of medication and periods of great health, which include meditation, exercise and diet. I have learnt many things on this road and am proud of the gifts this journey has given me.

I know some people don’t see it as gift giving so here is a list of how my contact with mental illness has helped me.

I have a highly developed sense of empathy.

I am very accepting of different approaches and positions. I am aware that many people may just be having a bad day or time of it. I am also aware that people do not need to see the world the same way as I do. I value these differences.

I understand there are many realities. There is no such thing as objectivity. We are all viewing the world from our own prism of experiences and emotions despite what science attempts/claims. Disassociating ourselves is the realm of mental illness not scientific observation.

I deeply understand what true love and compassion are. The value of one good honest open friend.

I am aware of my need for creative expression in my life.

I am aware of the evil of sugar on my mind and my emotions.

I have become aware of the value of stories. Each person’s story, our collective stories, our cultural stories. I have learnt the conversation of stories, personal and folk tales. I have been honoured to listen and share stories.

I have dreamt and written a series of stories with compelling, beautiful characters. Each hold beauty and truth and have been written to help others understand or at least speak of mental illness. I love these stories. They have been a part of my life for the past 10 years. I have been working on them with a writers group and sending them out to publishers for the past 5 years. I am ready for them to fly. This is a blog of their journey. An honest blog of the ups and downs of trying to get theses stories out into the world.