Introduction

I thought I would begin a journal about my daily life and thoughts as I have often wanted to post more current musings than a history of my life.  Rather than posting these thoughts to my memoir, where they don't belong, I decided to start a new blog.  The honesty that I have used to write my memoir has caused me a bit of struggle.  The post about my childhood was particularly difficult to write and even harder to keep visible to the public.  Frankly, I became paranoid about it.  I started to wonder what would happen to my relationship with my parents, particularly my mother, if they were to ever stumble upon my blog.  In the end I took the post down, saving the text for myself and leaving it hidden, possibly never to be shared with another soul again.

To add to my struggle, I have started to wonder what I may be doing to the mass of bipolars in the world, if anyone reading my memoir were to hold me up as a representation of my kind.  I created my memoir simply to tell my story, but a part of me hopes that it might open my reader's minds to understanding the disease and to perhaps to humanize it.  Bipolar disorder is demonized by many.  The disease is misunderstood, as are individuals with the disorder and other mental disorders.

Regardless of how I come across to each person who reads my memoir, writing it and beginning this blog is important to me and so I move forward with both.