An Accidental Path: Mental Illness and Keynote Speaking

"After five years of recovery, getting more adept at managing my anxiety and bipolar disorder, I had a nice, tidy job as a receptionist at a small graphic design company. But over the course of working there, my acting bug gnawed away. That's when I started writing excerpts about my experience with mental illness, specifically psychosis. I gave in. I scratched that creative itch. Writing wouldn't derail me from my comfortable, albeit slightly boring, office job, right?"

"While still working as a marketing-assistant-slash-receptionist (heavy emphasis on the slash part), I read the excerpts at the KickstART Disability Arts Festival. Three invitations followed: England. New Zealand. Calgary. They all asked, "Were the excerpts from a one-person show?" "Do you want it to be?" I thought. What else could I do? Of course I said yes! But I only had a handful of scenes. Nowhere near a full solo show. I had to get writing."

"Shortly after KickstART, my boss from the graphics firm had to lay me off. A mere coincidence? Or synchronicity, perhaps? Or maybe just a poorly managed company in a tough market. I like to believe it was synchronicity. I still needed to make money, of course, but I wasn't about to let this layoff go to waste. I started working as a background extra on film sets. It was the perfect "hurry up and wait" job I needed to give me time"

After five years of recovery and learning to manage anxiety and bipolar disorder, a person worked as a receptionist at a small graphic design company while feeling drawn to acting. The person began writing excerpts about experiences with psychosis and performed them at a disability arts festival, which led to invitations from England, New Zealand, and Calgary. The excerpts prompted a decision to expand into a one-person show despite limited material. A subsequent layoff created time and urgency to write. The person took background extra film work to buy the flexibility needed to write and complete a stage play for upcoming festivals.

Read at Psychology Today