Gum on My Shoe

Today is the first day of spring, International Happiness Day, and my birthday, so I guess I should be happy. As a matter of fact, I am, but the expectation that we should be happy on any particular day (our birthday, Christmas, a friend’s wedding, International Happiness Day) denies our right to feel - and crucially to express - whatever we happen to be experiencing in the moment. I tweeted earlier today that, for me, happiness isn't about being smiley and "happy happy" all the time. It's about being genuine, and connecting with people. Maybe what I’m thinking of isn’t “happiness” at all, because being genuine and connecting can and frequently does cover a wide gamut of emotions and experiences, not all of which are cosy or easy. Maybe it’s “real-ness”. It is what happens when we allow ourselves and each other to experience the moment (this moment, this today moment). Whatever you want to call it, it is what I find most valuable and rewarding in life. Fran somet...

I was thinking today (it being my birthday and all) about the essence of giving and receiving, which is to share simply, open-handedly and open-heartedly, without expectation of gratitude or return. I was reminded of two poems, which I would like to share with you. Call it a gift. ~Marty A blade of grass You ask for a poem. I offer you a blade of grass. You say it is not good enough. You ask for a poem. I say this blade of grass will do. It has dressed itself in frost, It is more immediate Than any image of my making. You say it is not a poem, It is a blade of grass and grass Is not quite good enough. I offer you a blade of grass. You are indignant. You say it is too easy to offer grass. It is absurd. Anyone can offer a blade of grass. You ask for a poem. And so I write you a tragedy about How a blade of grass Becomes more and more difficult to offer, And about how as you grow older A blade of grass Becomes more difficult to accept. by Brian Patten ...

“You’re stuck with me now, Frannie. I hope you realise that.” “Like gum on my shoe...” Best friends Marty and Fran live three thousand miles apart. Fran has lived with depression and bipolar disorder for over twenty years: Marty is her main support, carer and lifeline. In Gum on My Shoe: One Step at a Time with My Bipolar Best Friend , they share what they’ve learned about growing a close, mutually supportive relationship between a “well one” and an “ill one”. This book is a companion guide for those walking a similar road. With one in four experiencing mental illness in any given year, you or someone you know may be one of them. Using plain, non-technical language, real life conversations and examples from their own experience, Marty and Fran offer original approaches and practical tips for taking the good and the bad “One step at a time”. Uniquely, they show how technology and the internet mean no one is too far away to care, or to be cared for. Written from the well one’s perspe...

I was very excited when my friend Martin Baker, co-author of Gum On My Shoe , asked me to write a piece for Gum’s blog site. His knowledge and constant encouragement have both been invaluable to me as I’m writing my autobiography. I’m a 44yr old mother of three, and grandmother of one. Writing has always come naturally to me, and I’ve had the idea of my book in my “head” for years before actually starting it. I’ve been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder for seventeen years, and spent fourteen of those years educating myself about the illness. At the time I was diagnosed, the illness wasn’t as widespread and as easily diagnosed as it is these days. Patients that were diagnosed didn’t really talk about it. I’m quite positive that the term “crazy” wasn’t as accepted as it is now. I consider it a pet name, and am not offended by it at all. We didn’t have websites, facebook pages, etc to read about it in private. What we knew was what our doctors told us, normally in the form of 15 minute...

My name is Mariah A. Rackliff. Although I have been writing since I was thirteen years old, A Room Without Walls is my first published work. At the age of thirteen I began to write as a way to cope with feelings of extreme hyperactivity, extreme sadness, and a constant flight of ideas. I wrote many poems from this time until I was in my early twenties. At that time I stopped writing so much because I became so addicted to alcohol and the idea that it was the only way I was able to cope. After receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature, I began working as a special educational technician. During the summers I worked as an Employment Specialist for a local agency helping children with mental health diagnoses. During this time, I worked on receiving my second Bachelor’s Degree in Social Science. Six years later I began working as a Children’s In-Home Program Manager, and a Residential Supervisor. After this time, I decided to make another change and apply for a...