From “The Librarian Who Doesn’t Say Shhh”
A great way to spend a day.
Monthly Archives: August 2012
Superhero Shout-Out: My College Dean
This Superhero Shout-Out goes out to my College Dean!
I was hospitalized halfway through my senior year at college. I was also halfway across the country from home. My Dad flew in, and as he helped me figure out so many changes, he set up a meeting with the Dean. The Dean helped me stay registered in two of my scheduled classes, working it around the weeks of out-patient therapy that was a requirement of my hospital release.
She also checked in with me – not just on my academic standing, but on how I was feeling and coping. I’d always really respected and liked her, but after that I also thought of her as my friend and a member of my team.
I walked with the rest of my class at commencement on a cold May morning, and received my diploma the following spring after I completed my senior capstone requirement. I don’t know what my Dean did behind the scenes. What I saw was her encouraging my work on the illustrated book I had started about/to help me understand and create a structure for the bipolar. It was the beginning of my survival kit.
Without her support and friendship, I wouldn’t still be working on my book (it evolves as I do), and I wouldn’t have created my blog and set up the Facebook page. With her encouragement, I don’t know that I would be so comfortable talking about how I have bipolar and how it’s part of who I am and part of my success.
Thank you for everything, Superhero Dean!
Every Day Is Better With Bagpipes.
I swear. Every day is better when you end it with a clip about bagpipes.
Every.
Single.
Day.
(Plus, a pretty sunset photo. Ahh. Perfection.)
Ping!
Check out the “See Also” on Monday Night Video’s review of Sleepwalk With Me because I’m the “See Also!”
Yeah. I feel awesome.
Loving BP Magazine!
I’m really loving BP Magazine. I found it in a Headache Institute office’s waiting room, and it was the best part of the appointment! They put out regular posts on Facebook: well-written pieces by people with Bipolar. The magazine had a great article on brain fog and the things readers do to cope with memory loss. I felt like I found my people! Check it out.
Stumping the Comedian
Yesterday I went to a movie screening of Sleepwalk with Me, and at the end there was a Q&A with the comedian, Mike Birbiglia, whose life it was based on, and I asked him how it felt, starting off in the beginning of the movie working as a bartender and taking the occasional spot on the stage – to now, watching the credits of his movie, listing all of those names under him.
What I expected was an “It feels awesome,” in his drawl. Instead, he seemed a bit surprised. He talked about directing, and harked back to his days in student government. My husband later said that I’d stumped the comedian.
When I asked the question, I guess what I meant was how exciting it was to have watched his career over the past few years, though not at the beginning, and how, once he told his own story, how he got the laughs and the appreciation and the understanding. And that’s where the success was. I was so glad to be there to cheer him on.
Like they say in the movie (more than in the book) About a Boy, no one is an island. Sometimes, things suck, and when we share the pain and find the humor, that’s when the personal and artistic success follow. All of those names on the credits were people who worked with him to make the movie. And all of us in the audience had lined up on the sidewalk, tickets in hand, eager to get into the theatre. We wanted to share it with him. It was a really awesome thing to watch.
Sometimes I Need An Advocate
Sometimes I need an advocate. I’m having health issues beyond the bipolar stuff, and the doctors at each specialist appointment look at me, with my typed-up medication list and chart of personal and family medical history, and they think I’m fine. They don’t listen to me ask for help. They don’t look in my eyes.
So, this week, I am bringing an advocate with me to my next specialist. I’ll still have the paperwork, but she’ll make it clear to the new doctor that my pain is real. That high-functioning isn’t the same as okay. I’m really glad to have help.
superfabulousgettingby 