Gum on My Shoe

Fran and I write a lot about our lives and friendship, so we thought it would be fun to see how much our readers know about us! There are no prizes but we’d love to hear how you got on! Answers are at the bottom of this post. No cheating! THE QUESTIONS Merry Meetings Q1. When and how did we first meet? Q2. We’ve met once in person. In what year? Bonus point for where. Q3. In which city did Fran wave to Marty on webcam from the deck of the cruise ship Eurodam ? Time and Place Q4. What is the time difference in hours between Porland, Maine and Newcastle, Tyne and Wear? Q5. How far apart are we when we’re each in our respective homes? 1,000 miles, 2,000 miles, or 3,000 miles. Q6. Where was Martin born: London, Norwich, or Liverpool? Wellness and Illness Q7. Which of the following is not a type of bipolar disorder? Bipolar 1, Bipolar 2, Bipolar 3, Cyclothymic Disorder. Q8. What is the term for an inability to define or express one’s emotions? Who and What...

In this post I’ll explore how daily creativity can benefit our mental health, self-confidence, and sense of connection to others. I’ll focus on the work of four photographers (Clark James Mishler, Brandon Stanton, Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, and Ellis Ducharme) and one artist (Devon Rodriguez). I’ll also draw on my experiences with daily photography and writing. Engagement This post was inspired by a recent conversation with Fran in which she mentioned a photographer in Alaska who took one photograph a day. The photographer is Clark James Mishler , a documentary portrait photographer based in Calistoga, California. He relocated to Anchorage in the early 1980s where he spent four decades as Alaska’s premier environmental portrait photographer. There’s a fascinating behind-the-scenes video of Mishler at work on the Frontier Scientists YouTube channel. His approach to street portraiture (“Would you guys mind participating in a photo shoot?”) impresses and terrifies me — the lat...

This article is excerpted from chapter 3, “The Way to Wellness: Treatments, Therapies, and Vigilance,” of our book High Tide, Low Tide: The Caring Friend’s Guide to Bipolar Disorder . Getting Well and Staying Well In the last chapter [The Illness Experience: Understanding Your Friend’s Diagnosis and Symptoms] we explored the symptoms Fran lives with day-to-day. Let’s turn now to how she limits their impact, so as to live as fully and richly as possible. We discuss only medications, therapies, and other treatments Fran has used personally. These may not be directly relevant to your friend’s situation. As Fran expresses it, “What works for me may not work for you, and vice versa. We need to find our own ways and make peace with them.” It is also important to note that no strategy works forever. What we report as having worked for Fran in the past may not do so in the future. In the realm of chronic illness, wellness is a dynamic experience. We hope, nevertheless, to convey two...

When you can’t look on the bright side, I will sit with you in the dark. — Unknown Falling this year on February 6, Time to Talk Day focuses on creating supportive communities by having conversations with family, friends, or colleagues about mental health. By talking about our mental health we can better support ourselves and others. For last year’s Time to Talk Day I explored something that’s rarely discussed in the context of this kind of conversation: repetition . This year, I’d like to offer a few practical tips for supporting friends and loved ones with their mental health. It’s easy enough to encourage people to talk, but how do you respond when they do? These suggestions are based on my thirteen year mutually supportive friendship with my best friend Fran, who lives with bipolar disorder, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS/ME). For more tips and information check out our book High Tide, Low Tide: The Caring Friend’s Guide to Bipolar Disorder . 1. Talkin...

Check out our top posts for the past month. Posts are listed by the number of page views they attracted during the month, most popular first. Shhhhhhh! A Friend’s Guide to Secrets The Box on the Shelf: A Strategy for Handling Difficult Issues and Situations It’s Not Enough / Never Enough It’s Time to Talk. But What If You Don’t Want To? The Empathy Factor: Exploring Sympathy, Empathy, and Compassion One Must Imagine Sisyphus Happy: Encounters With the Absurd Man Thank You Anyway: The Gift of Ingratitude I’m Weak and What’s Wrong With That? How to Use a Spreadsheet for Wellness and Self-Care I Hope We All Make It Our most visited pages were: Contact Us Our books About Us News and Appearances Resources Testimonials   Photo by Martin Baker.