Many People Come To Reinvention When Life

A Diagnosis Is Burden Enough Without Being Burdened By Secrecy And Shame.

When I Was Diagnosed With Bipolar Disorder The Year I Turned 50, It Was Certainly A Shock. But As A Journalist, Knowing A Little Bit About A Lot Of Things, I Didn't Suffer The Misconception That Depression Was All In My Head Or A Mark Of Poor Character. I Knew It Was A Disease, And, Like All Diseases, Was Treatable.

My Tides Were Fluctuating, Too - Back And Forth, Back And Forth - Sometimes So Fast They Seemed To Be Spinning. They Call This 'rapid Cycling.' It's A Marvel That A Person Can Appear To Be Standing Still When The Mood Tides Are Sloshing Back And Forth, Sometimes Sweeping In Both Directions At Once. They Call That A 'mixed State.'

I Envy People With Dreams And Passions, But I Don't Think That Way. I Still Don't Have A 'bliss' To Follow. For People Like Me - I Suspect That's Most People - Holding Out For A 'dream' Or A 'passion' Is Paralyzing. I Just Like Having Work I Enjoy That Feels Meaningful. That's Hard Enough... But It's Enough.

I Would Not Take For Granted That My Personal Life - Because I Knew Better Than Anybody - That It Was Just A Life. It Was Surprisingly An Ordinary Life.