Beyond Bipolar

I’m fighting off some writer’s block as I type this. Over the last week, I’ve had a chance to reflect on this site, my content in general, and what I would like the audience to take (or not take) away from it. Thus far, the content has focused almost exclusively on mental illness, recovery, and how that has shaped my life. While that is certainly the inspiration for this project, I’ve been busy brainstorming ways to help this evolve.

I’ve mentioned multiple times in my writing that I want this site to be a resource. Writing about my personal struggles is cathartic and has the potential to offer readers a new perspective on mental health. But I would like to allow myself the ability to move beyond my Bipolar Label and focus on other things that make me human.

I’m a husband, son, brother, friend, and cat dad. I love sports, the outdoors, music, podcasts, film and television. I’m a registered Independent in the state of Massachusetts and I haven’t cast a ballot as nearly as often as I should have. I believe in the free press but try not to pay attention to the news, because most of it isn’t. Reading is an absolute pain in the ass for me so I prefer listening. I think cooking is really hard.

I want to write about all those things without losing track of the mission. I also want to try to bring more levity and structure to this website. For my own mental health, I can’t write specifically about my condition or experiences every other day. I also don’t think it would be fair to a readership I’m trying to grow to ask that they consume heavy subject matter whenever they visit.

Going forward I would like to pencil in Friday as a day for lighter content, where readers can expect me to write about topics other than my own mental health. The content may have a mental health hook, but for the most part, I want Fridays to be a chance for readers to learn more about me. As a preview, next Friday I’m going to start to reveal my sources--specifically, podcasts.

While my Instagram stories suggest I binge on hip-hop and early 2000s emo rock, I spend the bulk of my time with headphones in listening to podcasts. They calm me down, make me laugh, and/or teach me new things. I listen to a wide variety so expect multiple posts featuring different categories. I’m not sure how in-depth my writing on each will be, but at the very least, I’ll offer the reader a sense of why I enjoy them and why they’ve been helpful.

XXX

A note: remember how I said I was financing this as a company dog walker? Well, plans have changed. Earlier this week my other job at a golf facility (a really cool driving range and training academy) offered me an unexpected opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. Pivoting can be very awkward, but I’m excited.