Lived Experience Forum

[kristin]

Dear all,

For a long time in my experience one of the hardest things about having an MI was feeling like I was defined by my diagnosis. Thankfully by the time I was diagnosed with bipolar (it took 35 years from the first depression diagnosis) I had come to realise that I am not my diagnosis, it is an aspect of my experience.

Here is something I found on Twitter, which I think is an important and powerful idea. So here is the start of our own version, without identifying photos to maintain anonymity according to the community guidelines. You are welcome to post another image which has meaning for you, or none.

Kind regards,

Kristin

[kristin]

I'm a poet, artist, parent, friend, carer, follower of Christ, and very human. I have C-PTSD and bipolar type 1 but I am far more than my diagnosis. 

Kind regards,

Kristin

[Rick]

@kristin 

It is curious that you would post this new subject just as I have made this same decision. I have been publishing essays now for thee last six months and many people have read, enjoyed and discussed the topics I have raised. Recently I found my self writing not about MI and sector perspective but more the human experience and my thoughts on the right way to live. I've been reading all of John Steinbeck"s books. And this has lent me a different view on life.

Today I call myself a writer. After 30 years of being a muso and then losing the spirit of it I was convinced a creative life was no longer an option. 

I now feel God has opened my heart to a new path. I am not my illness, I am God's soldier, I am the father of my daughter, a godfather to a wonderful boy and an amazing girl, I am a friend to my friends and though I may have hate in my heart it is a small hate, I am a writer.

Hope surely endures enduringly

Rick