Okay, just a quick announcement. I created myself a secondary admin account with just the name Dennis. I always meant to use only my name and no aliases with this website and project; but I’m a moron and initially set it up with my long-time handle of Grimm. So from here on out, expect to see me as Dennis instead…which should be obvious but hey.
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As many of you folks know, I don’t typically just ramble a lot in these blog posts. I prefer to keep things useful. Today is going to be a bit different because I want to share with you all some of the goals I’m working towards with being Bipolar and putting the pieces of my existence back together.
I’ve mentioned many times that I want to work in Peer Support. For those of you that don’t know, Peer Support utilizes people that have recovered from mental illness, alcoholism, or drug addiction who are then trained and put to work helping people still on that road. Part of the reason I started this website in the first place was to demonstrate to a potential future employer my dedication to this cause. I’ve put many loving hours into creating this content, answering your comments, and emails. And let me tell you- I am so appreciative of those of you that have extended your trust to me with some of the difficulties you’ve faced- whether you be the loved one of or a person with mental illness yourself.
The interview I had today was with a gentleman with a Non-Profit that was about an hour and a half of general discussion about mental health, my opinions, my views, and so on. It is my hope to land a paying position doing this type of work so that I can devote more of my time and energy to it without having to work a “normal” job- if you can consider freelance marketing/writing normal!
I hope to mesh well if I am picked up by this NPO. I realize I’m going to have to adopt a more public friendly presentation as a representative of any company really. I may have had a couple dozen jobs; but I tried hard to do the best for who I worked for until my brain exploded. One sticking point for a lot of people is cursing. I’ve been advised- pretty much only by my mother- that I should curb that in these posts to make them friendlier and more appealing. The fact of the matter is I use it judiciously when it will make the most impact to the reader. I use it as a way to make things stand out starkly so the reader understands you’re entering new territory. And periodically just because that’s how I speak and I don’t believe in “bad words”. The intention behind its use is what makes it bad or not.
Probably the best example is the way I explain how manic thinking can run away from an unwell Bipolar. “Why isn’t she picking up her phone or answering? I texted three times, called twice. What is she doing? I bet she’s fucking someone else. That bitch is always fucking checking out my friend. I’m going to cut them both to pieces!”
And one thing I see from normals a lot is the desire to sugarcoat mental illness. But it’s not soft or easy. It’s violent, destructive, and painful not only for the person suffering it but for their loved ones. Frankly, if the word fuck or being called a cocksucker bothers you- you’re going to have a hell of a time dealing with the strange and dark shit that is just a normal part of being mentally ill. I never want the people I deal with to hide that from me. I always want them to speak exactly what’s on their mind no matter how dark, profanity laden, or painful it may be. When I’m dealing with someone, I NEED to know what’s going on in their mind so I can formulate an appropriate strategy and possibly pick up on things that others missed- which has happened on more than a few occasions.
So yeah. It’s a strange line to try and walk. On the one hand, I want to enter a professional environment. On the other hand, I’m not a professional. I’m a recovered mental patient who could have just as easily wound up dead in the ghetto. No matter where my goals and journey into the professional world take me; I don’t ever want to lose that perspective. I feel that perspective is why people open up to me.
Today, I also got to discuss a couple of projects and things I’ve been working on that I don’t think I’ve really mentioned to you all. So I figure now is as good of a time as any to tease them.
1. First E-Book is in progress! I’ve had a lot of folks ask me if I ever thought about writing a book and trying to get published. The answer to that used to be yes. I have since decided that I do not want to go that route. I will offer my E-Book(s) through my website (and whatever other electronic mediums I can) on a “Pay What You Want” format. Visitors will be able to download the works for free and contribute if they want to (or are able). I know from personal experience that being nuts makes one very broke.
My first work is Friendships and Relationships with Bipolars (working title; I realize it sucks). I’m about 60 pages in on my first draft at the moment. My goal with it is to enable Bipolars to better communicate to their loved ones what’s going on and how to help them; and give sort of a guide book to interpreting the actions and thought processes of Bipolars for normals. No idea how long it’ll end up. I write things until they’re done. Not a word more, not a word less. Probably going to be a few months.
2. Forex! What is forex you ask? Foreign Currency Exchange. It is the market in which currencies change hands between banks, governments, traders, and all manners of individuals. I came across forex trading about two years ago when a client of mine asked me to write a bunch of economics articles for him. I soon recognized the potential. It is a discipline that only takes a few bucks to get started. You can learn everything relating to trading for free. And strategies range from overly complex to relatively simple.
The strategy I settled on is fairly simple. It’s mostly pattern recognition and comparing certain market conditions. I have an 8 point checklist where if all of them come up then I know there is a profitable opportunity to trade. My hope is to boil this down to a simple system and provide it as a master document to people interested in learning. It’s by no means a get rich quick thing. It requires work to do well at. But, it is VERY accessible and could easily be learned by folks with physical disabilities, senior citizens, or people like me who have recovered.
Money is power after all. Everyone deserves to be able to afford their meds and food. And when I lived in the ghetto, I met many people that were trapped in poverty. Welfare doesn’t pay enough to provide the means to get out of it and there isn’t enough well paying jobs that are accessible to the lower educated. I think forex can make the lives of quite a few people much better and empower them. Just going to take some work to make it accessible.
So yeah, that’s just a bit about what’s been on my mind and my plans moving forward. Regardless of whether I do get picked up by this NPO; I will continue to work on this website and answer all of your comments and emails as I get them. I’ve had the privilege of meeting a lot of great, interesting people since I started this website. 🙂 Thank you for being a part of it.
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