Monday, October 5, 2009

Ideas Girl

My husband calls me "Ideas Girl". My psychiatrist calls it "Flight of Ideas," a symptom of my bipolar. I prefer the title "Ideas Girl", and I kinda like it.

I am blessed to have a husband who listens to my ramblings, and steals them from me to make a good buck. It improves our quality of living, and I also feel great pride because I was a part of this. He is able to filter out the good ideas from the bad ones. I start projects, but rarely finish them. I have a hundred projects going on at once, he picks 5 or 10 of these projects and finishes them for me.

You see, I am creative, and my husband is diligent. My high school math teacher tried to teach me diligence by making me write its definition 100 times. I still remember it word-for-word. Diligence: A constant, earnest effort to achieve a task undertaken.
Needless to say, this was not the cure.

We all have strengths and weaknesses. The key to success is to embrace your strengths- your abilities- and to find accommodations that will allow you to proceed despite your shortcomings.

9 comments:

BipolarPorch said...

Great post. That pretty me much sums me up to: creative, not diligent.

Angela, my wife, is not diligent either. She has many other qualities though, so I am still very blessed.

I need to hire a diligent housekeeper. Thats the ticket!
Andrew

The very latest on breaking Bipolar Disorder news...

Amy said...

Yes, a diligent housekeeper is very important!
I bribe ($$) someone to clean 1x per month for me because when I try to clean I get too focused on the sock drawer, or some other minor detail.

Anonymous said...

Creative. Not diligent to the point of being slothful. Can't stay "on task," but you ought to see and hear the wonderful ideas that wgurl in my head and then are lost to posterity.
And this room is piled so high with stuff, physically and mentally, that I can scarcely get to the computer. I used to feel guilty about it. Now I think it's absolutely wonderful to be so, what, "unconventional." Keep writing. I love it.

Anonymous said...

Love love love your blog! I was diagnosed with bipolar and although it was rocky getting to where I am today, I do feel successful and bipolar. "Ideas Girl" is super cute and you're very fortunate to have someone who understands bipolar so well who can put such a positive spin on it. lol. Such a wonderful name for the rush of ideas. Once again thanks for such a great blog and all the wonderfully positive entries!

Amy said...

Thanks for the positive feedback!
It motivates me to keep writing.
I also really enjoy hearing your stories. It helps me feel less alone in this fight against bipolar.

MemoirsOfADeployedAirman said...

I love this blog. What a wonderful nickname: "Ideas Girl." YOu are truly blessed to have a spouse who cares enough to take the good and leave the bad. My wife just divorced me after 14 years of marriage. I suppose she got tired of dealing with all of my "good ideas," so to speak. She would never finish any of my projects for me. In fact, she would usually just unleash her anger at me. For every failed project, idea, or concept...I was reprimanded 3-fold.

Imagine the depressive misery that builds up when you're told how much of a failure you are. Eventually, the failures begin to multiply...until you can hardly get out of bed. The emotional pain is overwhelming.

Sorry for the spiraling diatribe...I hope to find someone who can love me for me. Someone who is uncritical and protecting of my flaws. I have read about such people. I hope angels really do exist on earth.

Amy said...

Airman,
I understand.
Now that your free,
enjoy searching for your angle.

Anonymous said...

Thank you. Friends and family have commented extensively on my abundance of ideas... my ramblings and although i am told its affectionate teasing i sometimes feel hurt... but this helped.

Anonymous said...

I am the same way, I had a partner like that once, he was the follow-thru on my ideas but at the time neither of us understood my mental state and he couldn't deal. I hope I find someone patient and understanding one day