What Comes Around Goes Around Last week, my wife, Donna, and I ordered a guitar cable online for our amplifier and when it arrived, it didn’t work. Donna processed a return online to send it back. Since we couldn’t find a shipping label for it, we drove to BestBuy and tried to get our money back. Even though we brought the guitar cable back to the store we ordered it from, since it was ordered online, we needed to mail it back. Donna tried to explain that they didn’t provide a shipping label,...
27 days ago • 2 min read
At Least I Can Still Write I thought I’d write this newsletter today, because something funny happened that I thought you might enjoy. Because I’m growing older, I’ve needed more help from my wife, Donna. A few years ago, it got really bad when I had a hip replacement, serious blood clots and a pacemaker, all in less than two years. Things are much better now, but Donna continues to help me with everything from medication reminders and filling out all kinds of forms at doctor’s offices. I...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
My Hundredth Newsletter For virtually two years, I’ve had the privilege of composing this weekly newsletter. Not only has it given me something to look forward to every week, it’s also given me the chance to share my ideas, observations and opinions. This has meant a lot to me. I’d like to thank my niece, Jen, for giving me the idea and helping me set up the newsletter. I’d especially like to thank my wife, Donna, who not only edited and encouraged me, she also helped come up with interesting...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Book Trailers In the last fifty years, I’ve written a lot of creative works including stories, poems and plays. In addition, I’ve also written a book of humorous stories, a number of self-help books and two sci fi-fantasy novels. Unfortunately, I’ve never really made any money. This would have been completely disappointing to for me if it had not been for the fact that my work has been widely read over the years. For example, my Booksie.com account has had over thirty-four thousand hits from...
3 months ago • 2 min read
“Momentum” The term “momentum” is often used in sports. For example, in football, if the team is doing poorly in the first half, but then they score a touchdown and perhaps make a great defensive play, they start to do better. They gain momentum. Momentum is also associated with recovering from a physical illness like the flu. Gradually symptoms subside and there is an opportunity to feel better rather quickly. When this momentum takes hold, life can get much better. The term momentum is...
3 months ago • 2 min read
My Deepest Insecurity I hated English in high school, and I read as little as possible. Although I was good speller back then, I could barely construct a simple sentence. This all changed in college. After taking my first literature class freshman year, I knew that literature was meant for me to study. I started taking literature seriously as well as creative writing. I won first prize for a short story contest I entered one year, and the next year won second place for a poem I wrote. But...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Creativity For me, creativity, in the form of creative writing, has been essential for my journey through adulthood. Whenever I was ill, I’d write in an attempt to express delusional thoughts safely, find closure for difficult situations and to gain a deeper understanding of myself and the world. In my book, The End Justifies the Pain, the chapter on creativity focuses on the relationship between bipolar mental illness and creativity. Although the information in this chapter may prove useful...
3 months ago • 4 min read
Favorite Songs As I’ve mentioned in earlier newsletters, my wife Donna and I write original songs, and then practice them - together with old songs - for about an hour and a half roughly every other day. Recently, we have written two new song that are very difficult in themes. The first called, “Before You Go”,” is a love song that describes how despair can be transformative when it leads to courage and faith. The melodies in this song have proven difficult for me to sing, so we turned it...
4 months ago • 4 min read
Coping Strategies In this newsletter, I’d like to focus on coping strategies, that are found in my book The End Justifies the Pain. Since everyone has some degree of stress in their lives, coping strategies can be useful to most people. Whether it’s problems at work, financial burdens or health issues, stress is experienced sooner or later. So, this chapter, “Coping Strategies: Developing Lines of Defense,” can be useful to most anyone, but especially for those of us with mental health...
4 months ago • 4 min read
Managing Emotions Having had to identify and manage serious mood swings since I was a child, I’ve learned a great deal about feelings. Although it has been very difficult at times, knowledge and self-awareness of emotions have been a key source of help. I was very emotional as a child. Things would be upsetting to me that didn’t typically bother others too much. I also had emotions last too long. I’d cry at the “drop off a hat” so to speak, and I also would be told to just get over things....
4 months ago • 4 min read