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acitivist, advocacy, Advocate, creative nonfiction, essays, hope, inspiration, mental health, mental illness, mentally ill, psychiatry, psychology, schizophrenia, ucla, writing, writing programs
Yesterday’s encounter with discrimination really hit me hard. I received a pep talk from a really great writer friend of mine and from some of the readers of this blog. Those things made a difference.
I have said this before, but it is worth saying again, people with a mental illness have to fight smarter and harder.
I am in the ring, fists up, and ready to go.
Several months ago, I looked in the mirror and yelled, “BRING IT ON!”
Yes indeed, bring it on.
I want to get back to work so I have started a certificate program online at UCLA. I started it on Wednesday. It will take approximately one year to complete, and then I will have a certificate in creative nonfiction from UCLA.
I know that a certificate won’t help me get published, because publishing comes down to writing a really good piece, but it may help me get my foot in the door in terms of being hired as a writer for a company, or for a magazine. I need to work from home though. That much is clear.
I know it is not the MFA I once went after, but UCLA is a good school. I think the certificate will help me in several ways: help me with the discipline I so desperately need, help me explore the different kinds of creative nonfiction, and help me with editing and reworking a piece (something I struggle with). It will also help me write, and write, and write and have that work critiqued which will be so valuable in pushing me to the next level. I think a writer can always improve and I think it takes other people’s ideas and suggestions to get them there.
To use a cliché, yesterday’s events had a silver lining, not only am I telling myself that I need to write better, and deeper, and smarter, and cleaner, but I was worried about something that has to do with the symptoms of schizophrenia that yesterday’s incident proved I don’t need to worry about yet.
Often times, people with schizophrenia develop a flat affect. I was worried that along with some of the other symptoms, this was getting worse in me as I age. I have always been extremely animated when telling a story, and people have commented many times that I am easy to read. I thought I was losing some of that, in the same way my social anxiety has gotten worse, my motivation has decreased, and I have developed the desire to isolate socially. But believe me yesterday’s incident proved to me that my affect is not flat.
I was totally animated when telling the story to my husband and listening to his advice. I was lively and engaged. Good news.
I have a three to five page essay due, on an everyday event, and I am going to start working on it.
I am going to write the best essay I can. And for next week’s assignment, I will write the best essay I can, and the week after that the same thing.
I am going to fight smarter and harder.
Hey, I have schizophrenia, and if I can manage that…
I’ve got this.
Bring it on!
Xo
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Good luck with the certificate programs at UCLA. It’s a great school and I’m sure it can help in many ways as you mentioned.
I have schizophrenia and I am trying to search for work right now after my first psychotic break for work in the federal government, because that’s where I have most of my connections. I’m in my 20’s, newly diagnosed. I have two promising prospects through connections from past work. ( I thought I had a job lined up before but they back out in the last second. So I’m searching for work again.)
But I definitely have to fight smarter and harder to get a job. I have to explain why I switched jobs often due to paranoia and why I decided to take a year off of work. I can’t just say it’s because I developed schizophrenia and wasn’t yet sure what was wrong. No one will be understanding.
It’s definitely harder and I have to be smarter.
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Oh, I wish you the best of luck with finding a job. Doing a job search is stressful. I hope you take care of yourself in the process and I hope you find your dream job!!!!! Good luck to you – be smart, and be strong! My best to you.
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I have hired hundreds of people and went thru the net to look for different ways to answer an employment gap. I modified this a bit,
I went through a difficult time emotionally and I took some time out to deal with this. It was a difficult period for me but I worked hard and succeeded in overcoming it. I am a stronger person for it and now I am a hundred percent ready to tackle a new job. I feel that the experience I gained at my previous company can really benefit this position in the following ways …..”
Good Luck!!
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Good advice!
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Glad to hear you rallying!
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Congratulations! This is great news! 🙂
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Thank you!!! 🙂
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You’re welcome 🙂
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