tonyroberts, Author at Delight in Disorder

My Little Brother, a guest post by Catherine J Rippee-Hanson

A lifelong social activist, and serious mental/brain illness advocate & writer - maneuvering through tragedies that have led down many different paths. One of a set of identical twins who now work together to advocate and personally challenge our broken mental healthcare system. Also known as the 'Twin Tag Team' after 34 years of tending to the needs of our brother. He had a horrific accident in 1987, resulting in a TBI and loss of his eyes. Three years later he began showing symptoms of Schizophrenia w/Psychosis with chronic and persistent Anosognosia. He has been homeless for 14 years while we have sought LPS conservatorship, supervised housing, care and treatment. Author of personal blog, "Am I Not My Brother's Keeper?" and Administrator of the private Facebook group, "Mark of Vacaville," and Facebook page, "Twisted Sisters Advocacy & Activism for Serious Brain Disorders." Dear Mark, I have learned so much from you. Despite experiencing tremendous pain, [...]

My Little Brother, a guest post by Catherine J Rippee-Hansontonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:25-04:00

Let Go, Let God: a guest post by Lauren Roskilly

Lauren is a mum of two beautiful children. She has a BA Hons in Health and social care and also a diploma in CBT. Lauren became a born- again Christian in 2004. She is transparent about her ups and downs with mental health, depression, anxiety and self- harm. But God helped her with these and she has learnt to refocus from the negative and towards Christ. She practices being mindful of Him, thus the name of her blog ‘Mindful of Christ’. She is the author of ‘Christian based Cognitive Behavioural therapy.’ A Speaker and a Christian Life Coach where she helps people to recognise & overcome limiting beliefs & negative mindsets and help them to discover and step into their God given purpose. Have you ever thought that you need to let go a bit more? I mean, do you ever go through life thinking you need to be in [...]

Let Go, Let God: a guest post by Lauren Roskillytonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:25-04:00

Word of the Year: Eucharisteo – the miracle of thanksgiving.

Eucharisteo—thanksgiving—always precedes the miracle. ― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. (2 Corinthians 9.10-11) Each year I select a word to focus on in my faith journey each day. Said better, God selects the word and I confirm it. Today the word came to me from Ann Voskamp's book One Thousand Gifts. The word Eucharist appears in various forms 53 times in the Greek Scriptures. Strong’s Concordance lays out three ways that these words can be used: 1. To be grateful, to feel grateful; 2. To express gratitude [...]

Word of the Year: Eucharisteo – the miracle of thanksgiving.tonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:25-04:00

A Father’s Literary Blessing: a review of Ben Palpant’s Letters from the Mountain

Dear One, a father desires to share some of his hard-earned convictions and half-formed ideas with his daughter, whom he hopes will come to terms with her gifting and calling. He longs for her faith journey to culminate at the peak where the 360-degree view will undo her, where she will weep for sheer joy, where she will laugh with exhilaration. These letters are my attempt to reach out over the miles and clasp your hand as you climb. To whisper encouragement in your ear as I did when you were young. To spur you on toward love and good works. To remember our story. To lean my forehead against yours and give you my blessing: from the humble to the humble, to the glory of God. Amen. If there is one thing I did right as a father it was to pass on to my children a love of [...]

A Father’s Literary Blessing: a review of Ben Palpant’s Letters from the Mountaintonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:25-04:00

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas: Advent Hope in a Season of Grief

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. There were 11 of us gathered for fellowship and feasting. My 21-month old great niece dubbed Princess Nora provided the entertainment. We listened to a Spotify music playlist of holiday music. We told family stories and gave thanks for making it through another year. It was a bittersweet celebration, for as much as we enjoyed those who could make it we were mindful of those who could not. 2020 took a great toll on our family. We lost my father in July of cancer and my mother in December of COVID. Grief has since been a ever present companion in our lives and sometimes it can be disruptive to our family relationships. Fortunately, yesterday, it was was present as a gracious friend reminded us of good memories and things that live on. The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in a time of grief as well. According to History.com [...]

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas: Advent Hope in a Season of Grieftonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:25-04:00

My Life Partnership: In Sickness and in Health

I'm writing this intro section shortly after midnight on Susan's birthday. She is reclining with her granddaughter Rose who is congested and unable to stay asleep in her crib. I'm praying we all get the rest we need to enjoy the day that lies ahead. The genesis of what follows was first published in February of 2019. I'll tack on an addendum to bring it up to date. Over Labor Day weekend in 2018, I met the woman who would soon become my wife. Susan is all I could ever ask for in a life partner. She is intelligent. She has a beautiful smile. She has a great sense of humor. And, most importantly, she loves me and shares my faith. She accepts my identity as one who has bipolar disorder and affirms my mental health ministry. She is a definitive example of “ezer,” a help-meet who enhances my life, [...]

My Life Partnership: In Sickness and in Healthtonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:26-04:00

Portrait of a Writer as a Young Boy – my writing life, the first 15 years.

I have been a writer for almost 50 years now. My first essays lacked originality but made up for it in word count. I will not trade baseball cards in class... I will not trade baseball cards in class... I will not... 500 sentences. 4000 words. Long-hand. I’ve learned many lessons in writing through the years and they started right there in 3rd grade. You must suffer for your art. Ask my sister and she’ll tell you l’ve shortened this to a life motto, “You must suffer.” It was in 5th grade that I learned how delightful it was to write about my favorite subject. Me. The Autobiography of Tony E Roberts was part mythic, part statistic recounting of my early athletic prowess. I remember it best for the cover - an huge orange baboon in the lotus position. In his book On Writing Stephen King says, If you don’t have [...]

Portrait of a Writer as a Young Boy – my writing life, the first 15 years.tonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:26-04:00

When the Waves of Trauma Come Crashing In by Laura Moseley

The author, Laura Moseley, is a single mother of three children, who survived 23+ years of sexual and domestic abuse. She formally works as a customer service rep for a social service organization, as she loves helping people. She is a D0mestic Violence (DV) Advocate, in her "spare" time. She is a blogger, future podcaster, public speaker, and community activist. I, after 23+ years of abuse within my life, would consider myself to have an “unofficial” doctorate in trauma, as I’ve used myself as a bizarre test subject for years -- but not intentionally. It’s more like sitting with my own pain and analyzing, now that I am no longer in active abuse. Trauma, as defined by Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, is “a disordered psychic or behavioral state resulting from severe mental or emotional stress or physical injury.” It derives from the Greek word for “wound,” which initially signified a physical [...]

When the Waves of Trauma Come Crashing In by Laura Moseleytonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:26-04:00

Balance Revisited

I wanted to put out a post tonight and to topic du jour in my thoughts and conversations has been balance, or lack there of. 24 hours ago, I went to bed at a decent hour -- 11 pm. I woke up at 6 am to take my morning beds. From that time until late afternoon I was in a waking coma. It started to lift around 4 pm, and over the next 4 hours my mind cleared. Now I am in a mixed state, which is like having the bleak hopelessness of depression and the irritable impatience of mania swirling inside and around me. In other words -- constant chaos. It would not be wise to write now, so I'm going to recycle a post from last Fall. What follows is a reflection on balance I published in October of 2021... When I am most imbalanced, I have taken [...]

Balance Revisitedtonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:26-04:00

Hope for Troubled Minds: Living Our Wedding Vows by Janet Coburn

Born in Kentucky, Janet Coburn now lives in Ohio with her husband of 39 years, Dan Reily. She also lives with bipolar 2 disorder. Janet loves reading and country music. Dan loves gardening and archaeology. Together they love travel, science fiction, and cats (they have two at the moment, Toby and Dushenka). A graduate of Cornell University and the University of Dayton, Janet writes two blogs, bipolarme.blog and butidigress.blog, which she posts in every Sunday. She often contributes articles on mental health to The Mighty website. Janet has also written two books on bipolar disorder, Bipolar Me and Bipolar Us, which are based on her decades of experience with the disorder, and frequently answers questions about mental health on Quora. The man I married didn’t know I had bipolar disorder. To be fair, I didn’t know either. I was famously moody and given to what would now be called [...]

Hope for Troubled Minds: Living Our Wedding Vows by Janet Coburntonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:26-04:00

About tonyroberts