so there I was, surrounded by rabid chipmunks, looking for a way to break free to of the braided spinach restraints, when suddenly…

I spent the last two days at a conference. As far as conferences go it wasn’t horrible, but it also wasn’t amazing. There were some nuggets of good, like the one keynote speaker who had a ton of amazing recommendations for apps and the lady who did a session on developing your personal brand. There were also some road apples (does everyone know that term? maybe?) but I decided not to partake of those. I was a “bad kid” and left at lunch both days. Hey, we were within easy driving distance of home and I still have a literal fuckton of stuff to do before the trip.

So the actual best part for me was meeting a woman from another institution, one I secretly look up to, who disclosed to me that she also has Bipolar Disorder.

Having never lived through any other serious or chronic or otherwise nasty disease I don’t know if, say, women who have survived breast cancer feel an instant affinity when they meet other survivors or not. (WeeGee? help me out here?) And I don’t know if maybe it’s just me. But I love to hear stories from others who are fighting the good fight and are successful. It’s uplifting. And there’s something empowering about being able to talk to someone about something so personal and have them understand exactly what you mean.

And it’s a bit of an honor when someone tells you that they don’t typically disclose their disease.

My boys are so odd, but I love them to pieces.