Bipolar Creative Writing and art

[jynx]

Sooo there are places on this forum for creative writing, but we all know bipolar creative writing isn't necessarily main stream kinda reading material... or at least mine aint. Some of it is.. most of it isn't. I write things that I'd like to share, that I consider to be creative, but I don't think appropriate to post in the main stream forum thingy. Maybe there already is a string for this and I have overlooked it. If that is the case, please point me in the right direction. I find other peoples writing inspirational, and supportive.

Soooo I thought I'd start this string and see if I could get anonye inspired to share their creative writing!!! (see my spelling typos? LMBO they are really the beginning of a crewative writing slpurge...yah right lol!)

I'll post something tommorow. Tonight I am ... unable to sit still. buut I know there are some of you out there that are writers/artist.... heeeeey SoulWings...where are you???

Anyone care to share?

 

[Soulwings]

Hehe, you snared me with this thread, Jynx.

Okay, okay, so I will start. I noticed that I don't usually share my stuff with anyone that I don't know - Jarrod doesn't even get to read much of my poems - but... well, maybe it's time to break that cycle. Let's see what I can dig up from my stash...

Last Request

Take me to the cove where my heart lies,
let me sit on the rocks
where the sea can swirl around my world-weary feet.
Let me try once more
to count the ancient barnacles there,
let me breathe in the tang of northern sea and sky
one last time.
Let me feel life all around me,
let me glory in the deep untamed ocean.
Then let me close my eyes,
holding safe this last image
of the world as it should be,
while the gulls wheel overhead
and the sandpipers scurry across mud flats,
leaving perfect prints
that incoming swells will soon erase.

Copyright 2006... if anyone steals this, they go on my blacklist.

 

[youthwalk]

Cool thread Jynx

I'm not inspired to share my writing right now LOL but my art...I will.

I'll post a couple pieces, the rest can be forund here: Passion.Fruit

There is a fascinating book called Touched with Fire by Kay Redfield Jamison - about the link between creativity and mania.

I'm Brianna by the way. Diagnosed bipolar II 4 years ago.

Aura is a piece I did while hypomanic and doodling at my So's house. I was racing. I was tempted to call her Mania instead.

This is a graphite on watercolour paper. Faces are my thing.

And finally a water colour:

 

[Soulwings]

Wow... those are good, Brianna. *jaw drop* I wish I were that talented!

I've read the book, Touched by Fire. It was fascinating.

I'm April, btw.

 

[jynx]

Holly toledo...holly cow..holly socks!!! Wow. Those are terrific! outstanding! INSPIRATIONAL!!!

You did this while MANIC? I can't sit still to tie my shoe when I am manic! How the foof do you manage to focus? Or is it the distraction of mania that allows you to be creative...?

 

[4Everloved]

You rock, jynx. Excellent thread.

 

[jynx]

wow... you piece is soooo fluent! sooo...together! My pieces never seem to come across as lucid <giggle>

what inspires you? how do you write? alone? with music? in the dark (sounds weird, but I do, really, I do!) do you just put things down in your journal and then go back and "put them together?"

I am curious. I have always wanted to be more disiplined in my writing. I just can never seemed to manage it.

I will post my furniture piece this Sat. when it is finished. a before and after.

you write like a professional. its like something that you could find in a poetry book on the library shelf!

BTW... yes sister soulwings, I did lay a snare for you! In my defense, I was manic? LMBO. no really, I know there are others how are creative... and I just thought it would be neat to share. I knew either you or I would take the first shaky step to open the door for others.

I like sharing though. I know there are some things that are tooo personal to post here, but there is alot I think we can share and be inspired/moved by.

 

[youthwalk]

Holly toledo...holly cow..holly socks!!! Wow. Those are terrific! outstanding! INSPIRATIONAL!!!

You did this while MANIC? I can't sit still to tie my shoe when I am manic! How the foof do you manage to focus? Or is it the distraction of mania that allows you to be creative...?

Thank you

That's the thing. When I'm hypomanic it feels like an itch I need to scratch. The first piece - Aura I was hypomanic. Hence it looks so different than the others - It's about expression and I just let my mind and hands go. It's about colour and fire and getting the itch scratched. I was sweating and jittery while doing it but I (with my doc help) am learning how to channel the energy. I usually dance but I couldn't at that time so I made each colour some energy and the bold lines got my mind on the page.

Not making sense now...

 

[youthwalk]

Wow... those are good, Brianna. *jaw drop* I wish I were that talented!

I've read the book, Touched by Fire. It was fascinating.

I'm April, btw.

Thanks so much April

Your piece is very fluent as Jynx said. I love the imagery which seems at the same time dark but very hopeful. It's the combination of the weary feet and the sandpipers scurrying. Something is amiss. Something seems about to happen even after all your weariness.
I love that.


Excellent on reading Touched by Fire!

 

[Soulwings]

Jynx & youthwalk - thank you. I have worked at writing poetry for a long time - have taken several poetry writing classes and am working on getting things published (no success as of yet, but I am finding the joy in collecting my rejection slips ). I love to write and haven't done as much lately as I could/should/might have.

Let's see, how do I write? definitely with music on, and unlike some of my poet friends, I must write by hand first, and then type it up. I cannot - repeat, CANNOT - write poems on the computer. They come out stilted and I am always afraid that the computer is going to crash and I will lose them. So instead I write by hand, with music, in whatever room I am when my muse wants to write. I have two poetry notebooks, one of which is nearly full, the other that I'm just starting. One goes with me to uni and the other stays home, bc it is more fragile (I have lost part of a poem before bc the page ripped! )...

Sometimes I look back in my journals for things and find that I can write about them, but usually I just feel like I have to write, and then I sit down with one of my notebooks, hopefully alone - I work better that way - and write about whatever comes to my pen. The poem that I shared is one that took awhile to get right - the secret to doing well in writing is to write a poem - forget about it (this takes some time, a few weeks) - and then go back to it, revise - forget about it - go back to it, revise - get other people to help you revise - forget about it - revise it again, and then you should be good. So it really does take awhile for a scrap of potential poetry to be turned into an actual poem. And a lot of work. It makes my brain ache!!

But enough about my poems. Hehe. I may share more if I can find some good ones. My poetry is usually dark and serious, but I have a few "light and fluffy" ones that I can share.

You were right, though, Jynx. I was thinking about starting a thread similar to this one. Great minds... think alike? Hehe, a wonderful snare, too.

s to both of you.

 

[Alaskamomma]

I use to write daily devotions on occassional basis. Some were pretty good, I think. I have also written a few poems that I have not let anyone else read although I think my husband has seen some here and there.

As for the art and creative writing that has been displayed on this thread all I can say is WOW!!!

Oh, yes, I, too, have read Touched by Fire. An enlightening read.

 

[jynx]

Dark and moody is good too. Not everything is light and fluffy...

eh. Light and fluffy makes me think about cotton candy and this time at the fair I ate like four cones of it...and v*mited all over moms minivan.

I assotiacte things...with other things...lol..that is how I remember stuff. And some of it... is just plumb weird!

At any rate, post what you feel led to share, not what you *think* would be sutable or good enough to put up here. If you are even contemplating it there is a chance someoen else needs to read it...and God is leading you to type it in here girl!

I do the music thing too, but the rest of my house has to be EMPTY. with five kids that is impossible to do now expecpt in the middle of the night with a set of headphones on.

I will take your "forget about it" suggestion to heart and see what goolash I can hash up again!

 

[Alive again]

So did I mention that my son who also has bp2 is the creative one and even my normie dtr is more creative than me. i wrote poems in high school to express my emotions and was told by my teacher some were good, but have not done that since then. I never got the hang of piano too much of a perfectionist same with knitting crocheting. So I sewed and learned how to quilt a few years ago and do cross stitch (easier to be perfect there!) and use do do embroidery, but not any of those things for years-I read!!! And I thooooooooroughly enjoy others creativity!

 

[4Everloved]

:o:o:o

 

[4Everloved]

Ummmmm....

I know this is going to be hard for everyone to believe, but while I went out to the kitchen to eat the pancakes my daughter had made....my brilliant 3 year old did the above post. Isn't he ...something?

I'm not sure how he knew how to do it, but then he downloads, moves icons, all sorts of stuff.

I am glad that he downloaded Microsoft Word 2007 trial. We'd already had a free trial and when he downloaded another one, we have it now that the first trial ran out.

Again, I apologize for the above post. But then, it's kind of funny too.

And I did this apology in pink text on purpose. 'Cause I love pink. And blue. So there.

 

[youthwalk]

:o:o:o

Ummmmm....

I know this is going to be hard for everyone to believe, but while I went out to the kitchen to eat the pancakes my daughter had made....my brilliant 3 year old did the above post. Isn't he ...something?

I'm not sure how he knew how to do it, but then he downloads, moves icons, all sorts of stuff.

I am glad that he downloaded Microsoft Word 2007 trial. We'd already had a free trial and when he downloaded another one, we have it now that the first trial ran out.

Again, I apologize for the above post. But then, it's kind of funny too.

And I did this apology in pink text on purpose. 'Cause I love pink. And blue. So there.

LOL!!

Brilliant.

 

[4Everloved]

Speaking of creativity....I think Caleb's first post is showing great promise. (I know half of you will think I did it, but God knows.)

My daughter is very creative with writing and drawing.

I used to be creative. And jynx is encouraging that creativity to be nurtured. I think maybe it's more than the medicine that put away my creativity. I realize this morning that I stifled it on my own to stop the hurt and to try to be how I thought everyone else around me was.

When this thread was first started, I was amazed. It is a great idea, this sharing of creativity, and Lord knows, it does seem that people with bipolar have a corner on creativity.

Then when I looked at the drawings and the poetry I just felt sorry for myself because I don't do those things anymore.

But that's going to change from this day forward. Medicine or not. Again, the Lord has showed me, using Jynx.

Lord, please give me the gift of creativity back in my heart and mind. Re-instill in me that spark. Heal me, Lord, and use me to further your kingdom. Amen.

 

[4Everloved]

Thank you for understanding, youthwalk! God bless you

 

[Soulwings]

Nuturing creativity is the only way to help it grow and flourish. It isn't just going to come waltzing in one day... "Ohhh Aaapril, I'm baack!" No... you've got to spend time with your muse, get to know him/her, and learn in what ways you can channel your energy to be the most creative.

I know the muse stuff sounds hokey, but it's what's worked for me. My muse is returning after a long vacation (that's what happens when I don't spend time with her, she gets up and trots off to Florida! Just kidding...), so I am busy writing writing writing. Just got a good scrap of potential poetry written an hour or so ago.

 

[Jeshu]

Oh to be taught by the Almighty is a pure delight.
He made my table to be abundant even in time of want.
For what knowledge, but truth, is worthy in my sight?
And what reality but with and in love is worthwhile living?
True food even for the simple minded.
His flesh is food indeed!
His blood is drink indeed!
What more can you want from Him?
He is your Creator – your Life giver and your Friend - Jesus is His Name.
Give Him the glory!

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