I’m peeling back the chronic illness curtain today. Pain and fatigue have me writing this post from the recliner, in the middle of a really tough episode. The last few days have brought an uninvited wave of physical pain and extreme, bone-crushing fatigue. When you live with bipolar disorder, you spend so much time managing your brain chemistry that it can feel like a massive betrayal when your physical body suddenly goes offline. My mind wants to be productive. I want to be working on my...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
I finally feel like I’m coming out of the fog after pushing myself so hard through the last few months. My back is hurting less and my thinking is a little clearer. Best of all, I feel my creativity returning, and I’m so ready to put that into action. The reality of the busy season forced me to accept a painful truth: my body is getting older and my energy reserves are decreasing. I don’t think it would be wise for me to ever work seven days a week again, so it’s time to look at making...
3 months ago • 2 min read
One of the most frustrating parts of bipolar life is when your mind spirals into darkness in the blink of an eye. It can be a perfectly sunny day, birds singing, flowers blooming, when suddenly a switch gets flipped and all the good disappears. Mostly, I try to keep the content here positive, but the realities of mental illness include many negative days. Here’s what I wrote Wednesday morning while getting ready for work. The day started fine. | Image made by author with OpenArt. “There’s a...
5 months ago • 6 min read
Ugh, this was a week! Freezing temps, snow, ice, a sick colleague, and my very first tax return submitted to the IRS was rejected. Not a great start to tax season. It’s Saturday as I write this. It thrilled me this morning to wake up to snow on the ground because it meant I didn’t have to go anywhere. (Where I live, a little snow closes everything.) I’m so tired, and that scares me a little too, but I spent the morning painting. The time in my art corner makes me feel mentally refreshed, even...
6 months ago • 4 min read
How’s your New Year going? It feels impossible to be starting another year, but here we are. As you read this, I’m in my last hours before a new tax season begins and 9:00 tomorrow morning. The next 15 weeks of my life are going to revolve almost entirely around taxes. The good news is I took some extra time off during the holidays and was super productive at home. Not only did I get a few longstanding projects completed, I also plotted out the content for my newsletters for the next 16...
7 months ago • 3 min read
Life throws a lot at you. In just the past two weeks, I had kidney stones, the husband of a woman I work with had a horrific car accident, and one of our dearest friends passed away. Add in the extra darkness of this time of year and all the other chaos that's raging inside my brain, and you have a recipe for an epic disaster. It's hard to stay on the light side when all the bad hits you bang! Bang! BANG!!! With everything that’s happened, I’ve been thinking about gratitude. Because even on...
8 months ago • 3 min read
It's autumn here in Southeast Tennessee, and last week, the leaves finally started to change. Most of the trees were still green, which is strange because peak color season should have started three weeks ago. But Mother Nature has her own schedule, and so we have to be patient until she chooses to shine. Seeing the bright hints of yellow in the woods behind my house got me thinking about color. I had a busy week at work last week, working many more hours than I normally do as I finished the...
9 months ago • 3 min read
Yep, I'm a bit late today. Long story, but I won't bore you with the details. Since the leaves are rapidly falling outside my window, I used them as inspiration. This week's featured post is about how you can be like a tree. Reader, I hope all is well with you. Thank you for being here today. Until next time, keep fighting. Scott Ninneman Please share this newsletter: [ARCHIVE URL GOES HERE] Be Like a Tree and Let Your Past Fall Away Today is the day to let go. Be like a tree and let it go. |...
10 months ago • 3 min read
Taking some time off is often the best way to gain clarity. A few days away from the things that are stressing you often make things a little clearer. But then there are other times when, no matter how much time you take, things still don’t make sense. I feel like I’m in the latter place. I didn’t mean to take so much time off. I originally thought I would take a week or two. I hoped the break would give me an epiphany and show me what I needed to do. But the truth is, here I am four weeks...
10 months ago • 7 min read
