I am an ultra-competitive person. I don’t know anyone more competitive than me, though I’m sure there are some people who are comparably competitive. I started playing soccer when I was five, and I remember crying after we lost games. I didn’t understand how my teammates could be so excited about stupid snacks after we …
I am a survivor
I have lived through numerous traumatic experiences over the years. As I’ve alluded to before, I’m not ready to share the details of what I’ve been through, but I have an inkling I will disclose some pretty heavy stories sooner rather than later. Suffice it to say, I could consider myself a victim because of …
Another post on friendship
Friendships are a funny thing. Have you ever spent time thinking about how you met each one of your closest friends? I do it a lot, and it is fascinating. I have friends who I’ve met through church, and that isn’t necessarily the biggest deal because those people are obviously like-minded and looking for community. …
Dopamine and humor
I was a witty kid. I have vivid memories of instances of rather refined humor for a kid so young. The Left Behind series was huge when I was a kid, and we watched the movie several times. I knew what the rapture was and what it’s going to look like when it happens. We …
Enough
I love self-deprecating humor, and as a result, I am really good at giving myself backhanded compliments. Here is a list of my favorites: I’m not ugly. I’m smarter than most 5th graders. I have a respectable memory. I write goodly. I’m talented at pissing people off. When compared to people who don’t know how …
I love my meds!
When I was first diagnosed as bipolar, I was not happy about having to take medicine. I didn’t exactly refuse to take it, but I did bitch and moan about it for a while. My sister is also bipolar, and she’d been on some medicine for several years that worked really well for her. My …
Please don’t assign my moods
Even though I’m prone to melancholy, I love to laugh, and I especially love making other people laugh. Oftentimes, the best jokes stem from self-deprecation, and I’ll be the first person to make fun of myself. I particularly enjoy making crazy and bipolar jokes. I typically don’t mind other people making jokes, as long as …
Self-awareness, or the lack thereof
The summer I turned fourteen, my sister had a psychotic break at church camp. She is also bipolar, though it took a long time for doctors to figure out the correct diagnosis. Her break was really bad, and she spent nine days in a psychiatric hospital. Two families from our church were going down to …
Medicine’s unjust stigma
Bipolar and other mental illnesses have a stigma surrounding them, but they are more understood now than they were thirty years ago. One place, though, seems to be stuck in the dark ages. The church. Thankfully, I haven’t experienced too much criticism from my church family, but not everyone there knows about my illness. I’ve …
ALS and courage
May is ALS awareness month, and I’d like to write about how ALS has affected one of my best friends and her family. I met my friend at my first job out of college. We’ve been friends for four years, and she has been one of the best friends I’ve ever had (I’ve written about …
Between Two Poles 