In the beginning, when the world grinded to a halt and everyone stayed home, I received a huge dose of validation as a stay-at-home mom.  Suddenly people were realizing exactly what I do every day, and how demanding it is.  After several weeks, we all settled into a new routine and got used to the new norm.  The good feelings of validation wore off, and I started to feel the struggle. But I’m a stay-at-home mom.  It’s literally in the name.  I’m supposed to have the stay-at-home thing down. DOWNWARD SPIRAL Initially, it wasn’t too different from our day-to-day.  The biggest change was we were no longer going out.  We were no longer having play-dates.  We were no longer doing our activities.  You see, “stay-at-home” is a misnomer.  We actually go out a lot.  So we, like everyone else, were stuck at home and feeling the struggle.  However, now I had the guilt [...]

Hey there! I’m Katie Dale, familiar with the storms of mental illness, and I blog about my faith and how it has informed my brain-based disorder at BipolarBrave.com. I also have a memoir out about my journeys through the psych wards and how I found peace of mind with psych meds (by the grace of God) – you can find it on Amazon here. Since my former profession of case manager at a behavioral clinic, I’ve stepped into the role of stay-at-home mommy to Kylie. And I get to travel the world with Chris, my man in uniform. Aside from that, I could live off mac ‘n cheese, and I still hold onto my aspiration to run a sub-20-minute 5k. Come find me and say hi on social media @KatieRDale. Stay bold, brave, and real.   Moodiness comes with maternity, that’s a given. Add to that a layer of a [...]

Dave Meyers writes, "It’s been a hard long hard road, from state hospital, to transitional housing buildings, to where I am at now. I am in debt to God for this journey, even throughout the many pitfalls. Dave finds great joy in learning, and thinks it’s never too late for a person to find their true purpose. He has suffered extreme suffering and rejection, but has been able to transform this disappointment into joy in serving others. Although some of this suffering includes approaching death face to face, he has helped people through his writing, expressing transformation. He helped people express themselves in their writing as a creative expressions group facilitator for the Buffalo Psychiatric Center.   As a former smoker, he also played a part in others on their journey quitting smoking. While having led other groups, he has also contributed to the blog for the Schizophrenia and Related [...]

Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all, And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm. I've heard it in the chillest land, And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me. -- Emily Dickinson  1830-1886   This post is about the Presidential Inauguration. I had not planned on writing about it. I didn’t even watch it. But something/Someone compelled me to listen to the program podcast then move to my desk where I finished composing this at the stroke of midnight, January— my psychoimposed deadline for Facebook posts. You might wonder what a blog about faith and mental illness has to do with politics. politics. Hope, for one. The sign above Dante's [...]

“If we look back into history for the character of present sects in Christianity, we shall find few that have not in their turns been persecutors, and complainers of persecution." [Letter to the London Packet, 3 June 1772] ― Ben Franklin, The Life and Letters of Benjamin Franklin It is a peculiarly unpleasant time to be an American Christian these days. Gone are the days when the Church ruled the roost as the center of community life, the influencer of governing affairs, the bedrock of family values. In its place we have turned to an amalgam of human rights designed to protect individuals, building borders for what is deemed safe. To do this, we practice a ruthless form of censorship that is the antithesis to freedom of expression. As an example, back in "the glory days" a tenured professor could only be dismissed if he had his hands in the [...]

What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though. ― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye. I delight in writing. I delight even more when people read what I write. And I delight the most when people respond to what I've written. When I was in pastoral ministry, there were many things I enjoyed about my work. The process of preparing a sermon was exhilarating. Delivering it was another story. It made me nauseous. It wasn't so much that I had stage fright, but that I was terrified that my presence would get in the way of God's Presence and my words would not communicate God's Word. I much preferred follow-up conversations on [...]