“Bleeding hearts look like little lanterns of love.”
The bleeding hearts are open and glowing like friendly pink beacons in the garden shade. They welcome you with their two little pink arms, either held out to the sides saying “Hey there!” or out in front of them, whispering, “Come in. Come in.” I see from a side view why they are called a bleeding heart, but there is so much else there. They are a curious, happy, and perky bloom. Yet they are a mysterious, hidden, and slightly weighted little flower. They make me think of the many moods we can have, not only as human beings, but as the special ones with Bipolar.
Did I just dare call us special? Yes. Yes I did. Have you ever taken into consideration how blessed you are to have had some scientifically amazing mood changes? That you’ve experienced heightened senses, keen powers of observation, perhaps even visions? Or that some of your darkest moods have alerted you to places in the human experience that no other person should ever have to go? Maybe you even feel a profound empathy for the suffering of others, simply because you know true suffering yourself. Well, put on your invisible cape, because you have some superpowers some other people just won’t ever have. Do right by these experiences. Use your powers for the greater good.
That happens to be why I started this blog. The greater good. The fact of the matter is, I don’t really like to prattle on about myself. Because frankly, I’m uninteresting. I’m just another person going through life. But after living for so many years, struggling, confused, riding the waves of depressions and manias without knowing what on earth was happening or why, I want to do something to help other people. I’d spent all those years trying to help myself, trying to survive, and attempting to make myself feel good to stop the pain. I’d hoped to find amazing success at unattainable goals (hello, mania) all in a vain effort to be liked, loved, appreciated, respected, and so on, thinking it would “fix” everything. So after finally understanding how my brain works, why my behaviors fluctuate, and what the outcomes are, I hope to help other people see that this is not an “end of your life” diagnosis, it’s actually the beginning of finally living a healthy, productive, and purpose filled life.
I’m just one little person, but if my words reach one other special person, and then another, and another, then maybe I’m using my superpowers wisely.
I hope you share your superpowers today. We are, after all, just a bunch of little bleeding hearts.
The Bipolar Spirit 