HUMAN2HUMAN

A TREATISE ON THE ART AND SCIENCE OF PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION. Bipolar I Depressive. In my early thirties that was my current situation. Finally, a name for my pain. “It’s like diabetes.” They said. “You can treat it with medication and talk therapy.” They said. “It is manageable.” They said. “You will have it for Life.” They said. They also said that I had a 1 in 5 chance of ending my own life. That is a 20% likelihood that on any given day, I will pull my own plug. That shed a lot of light, on an infinite amount of darkness. I am here, to tell you that if you are mentally ill, struggle with depression, anxiety, or addiction – if you do not – Adapt, Evolve, you will die before your time and before you know what hit you. Furthermore, if you deem yourself a stable genius the same applies. Depression will pull you down. Anxiety pushes you down. Addiction will burn you alive. Bipolar I Depressive will pull you apart, burn you alive, push you down, pull you down drown you,...

When I was young a friend referred to me as a delicate flower because I appreciated the simple beauties that life had to offer.  I grew up a sensitive child, and later would be called an over sensitive adult.  In time the delicate flower grew to be a strong yet supple reed. I learned not to let life wilt me, or snap me like a twig.  After many trials and tests, I learned to know when to bend, and give, and yield to the circumstances that life would present. I had a poet’s soul.  I spent my childhood in my head, in my room, or alone in the park, or in the woods.  I adored animals, the natural world and felt in tune with the rhythms of the wind, and weather.  I had few friends and seldom ventured far from my room when I needed companionship.  That I found in books. I read Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, and the Encyclopedia Britannica that my father bought when I was very young.  Through those volumes, I could explore the world, the hum...