The Joy of.... A New Series of Blogs

While driving my jet to the Broad Street Diner for breakfast yesterday, a really exciting idea struck me for writing my blog posts. Why not write a series of blogs on things that make me happy? So I started with a few, like The Joy of Yardwork, or Owning a Home, or Dating and Marriage, or Having Kids etc. etc. You get the idea.

I've been blessed in so many ways I can't count them. And my disposition has always been to take things as they come, and as they are. I never felt, and still don't, that the world owes me anything, and I learned long ago from my mentor Bill Foster, it's not important how the world treats me, but how I react to it. Not coincidentally, Janet shares this same philosophy. She'd say, "It's past, get over it." And that went for any of our outstanding accomplishments, as well as the glaring mistakes -- mostly mine.

Perhaps that's why I'm a little cold or reserved about most things now. Yet, I can remember a time, from my childhood until just after my first bipolar episode in 1979, where I could get excited, and rowdy, and involved, in just about anything. I started Mercer County Community Community College that year with a class in Philosophy, which I had to withdraw from when i ended up in hospital for a month after the episode. Those days and earlier I could get high from drugs or good news, and had many more fancies and interests, like our new son Jesse.

But then I started my pill regimen: anti-psychotics, mood stabilizers, Lithium and sleeping pills. All geared toward slowing me down, calming me down, and preventing nasty highs and depressing lows. And over 30+ years of them, they've taken thier toll on my spirit. But I'm certainly not complaining, and explain it all in my forthcoming book Episodes of A Blessed Life in America. Yet I must be truthful and say, that because of my mild bipolar mental illness, I've never had those debilitating clinical depressions so often read and heard about in others. Again, I've been fortunate.

So I'm going to give this blog series a try, and hope you'll feel free to comment and add your joys. In fact, better yet, you should start your own blog! It's free, and very easy to do, especially when you get into the routine of writing and sharing. I use Google's Blogger and am very happy with it. You need to have a GMail account, but I'm biased, and really like GMail for any number of reasons, particularly for its excellent spam filters. Blogger only requires a little intuition, because, like 99% of the apps on the Internet (and mobile phones), there's no instructions or good labeling. Well, either way, Blogger's not to bad. There's other free blog platforms as well.

So, hope to read your comments or read your stories soon...
Best,
Rodney Richards, NJ