writing itch

I am having another sleepless night. I am listening to music and it’s keeping me awake. I should shut it off but I really don’t want to hear the silence of the night. My head just can’t take silence right now.

I have been hypomanic on and off for almost a month now. I thought I was crashing as I had a severe depressive episode the other day. But now I am back to feeling good. But I am very sleepy and really want to sleep but my empty head just won’t like it. I took my meds about two hours ago. I should be sleeping but I have this urge to write so I am writing.

I keep thinking about two trolls that have entered my life in the last few weeks. One I thought I had vanquished until she resurfaced today when I checked my spam comments. Now I had to change the settings all because of this one jerk. Then I thought about the troll on the NYT that told my story without my authorization. This has still burned me more than the other troll. I can delete her stupid comments with one click. I cannot do that for the NYT ones. It is just upsetting me and I am trying hard not to let it bother me. I wish I could talk to my therapist about this. But I don’t talk to her again till Tuesday. I have been texting her with my upsets but it’s not the same as talking with her. The good news is there have been less comments on the NYT site and I am glad. The stress of dealing with the nitpicking of my therapist and her competency were outrageous. I’m just glad I never mentioned who she was or she might be further under the microscope. All of this hubbub has really taken the joy out of the accomplishment of publishing for the NYT. I still am in awe about it, at times. But now the fun of it has worn off because of the comments. Sure, there were more positive comments than negative ones, and I should focus on that. But the rest really had me thinking I did something wrong. But if I did, wouldn’t the NYT NOT publish it? I have received more compliments about it than negativity in the real world. I should focus on that, rather than 50 or so comments that were negative. I still believe there was ignorance in most of the negative comments because they didn’t know the truth behind the story. I didn’t go into grave detail about the relationship. I didn’t have to. It was a short piece that I wrote on the fly one night when I couldn’t sleep and I was feeling hatred towards my therapist and psychiatrist for keeping me here when I don’t want to be. I seriously thought, numerous times the other day, of ending my life because I had crashed so severely. This was before I read the comments. My thoughts were slower, things didn’t taste right, I had no appetite. I was moving slower, like I was in mud. All the signs were there that I was depressed. Then to read that a so called long time “friend” outed me to the public, that was too much. And for the troll that thinks I am in no danger of being a victim of a hate crime you are so wrong. If people find out I am a TG, there will be hate. Look at Caitlyn Jenner and all the slack that she got despite, also, the positivity. I have been called a “dyke” and a loser and other names I won’t repeat just for being gay. Throw in transgender and you have a new ball game. So don’t sit there and tell me she just didn’t put a bullseye on my head because she did.

Tomorrow, or should I say today, I plan on writing out a story of these hypomanic episodes for my book. I will add it to the story I wrote a few weeks ago. It will give me something to do. I also need a shower sometime today. I was going to take it tonight but my legs were hurting for some reason. I think it is because I stay in the same position for too long without moving. I have to remember to stretch but I don’t.

I thought of watching the movie Lincoln tonight. If I start it now, I will most likely fall asleep by the time Seward and his henchmen are meeting. I probably will watch it soon. It’s my favorite movie. My next venture is getting Sandlot and Bull Durham. I like to see Major Leagues too. I am not a movie person so I have not seen these classics.

Random 299

I checked Facebook when I got up this morning. It’s one of the routines that I do before getting up. I saw that someone had posted a picture of the Square where my Starbucks is has been caged off. It was a place where people would sit, smoke, talk, have their lunch, etc. Now they can no longer do that. Stupid city that I live in. I guess because they couldn’t get any money from the spot, they blocked it off. It pissed a lot of residents off, including me.

I feel better now that I had some sleep. Whatever happened yesterday with those stupid comments, I am letting go, even if it does still bother me. I plan on printing them out and sending them to my therapist so she can read them. I doubt she will be able to navigate getting to the comments unless I provide a link and she is too technologically illiterate to do it herself. My psych was supportive. She said it’s because I write so powerfully that people react in stupid ways (not exactly her words but that is the gist). A good friend of mine also came to cheer me up by telling me how proud she was of me and that she knew since the days we worked together that I would go places. That made me feel pretty good, coming from her. She is someone I deeply admire as she is so spunky. She is not one to let shit bother her, least not on the outside and will give shit back at you. I am glad we reconnected after all these years of not seeing one another. Since our job closed in 1997, I have seen her twice, both at reunions of our workplace. It is always good to see her. She still has flaming red hair, though it’s not as tall as it was in the 90s. She is a good friend and I am glad she said what she did.

I am not as depressed as I was yesterday, but that doesn’t rule out that I still could be tomorrow. I just never know how things are going to be. It is scary being this way. I know I said in the past I like being depressed because it is what I am used to, but yesterday I was close to being back in the hospital depressed. I really felt like someone should evaluate me and make the decision for me. I just didn’t know if I was going to spiral out of control or not. But today I am doing better, least for the time being. I did go to the Square and have my Starbucks. I will never again order extra sweetner for my coffee. It was way too sweet. I only drank about half of it. I also had a pumpkin scone. I wish I could make them but they take a lot of work and the icing is kind of tricky so it’s better bought. I still plan on making pumpkin cupcakes this weekend. My sister is having a BBQ tomorrow so maybe I won’t be the only one to eat them all, like my last batch. I will have to make it by hand as my mother’s mixer is out of commission. The motor finally broke down. It’s only about 70 years old. The mixer was my grandmother’s. After she died, my mother inherited it as she does a lot of baking.

My ankle/foot pain has been minimal the last few days, which I am wary about. Usually it’s like a calm before the storm. I did a lot of standing today so we’ll see if it flares up tonight or not. While on the bus home, I got up for my stop and the bus driver stopped short so I had to put extra weight to keep from moving forward. My foot usually flares right up when it happens but hasn’t so far. I hope it stays this way. I really don’t want to be in agonizing pain tonight.

I emailed the instructor for the class that I attended a few weeks ago. I wanted to tell her that the piece I read to her was the piece that got accepted in the New York Times. I had already submitted the article as I have been working on it for some time now. But thought if I made it better, it would be more acceptable. Turns out there were very few edits the editor had to make. I guess I made his job easy. I kind of wish he told me what the title of the article was before publication, just so I could have some say in it. But it didn’t occur to me till after it was published. I think about this now because one of my cousins didn’t like the topic. My mother still hasn’t said anything to me and another cousin thinks I should write other things. But writing about suicide is all I know, really. It comes from inside me because I know it so well, inside and out. I am not a love story or romance type of person. I couldn’t write about that even if I tried. It would be laughable, even in the “trashy” world. I am not a Hemingway or Virginia Woolf. Maybe one day I will change but for now, people seem to like my writing the way it is.

Baseball regular season is winding down. There are only about three weeks left. I don’t know what I am going to do without the nightly distractions. Because my Sox won’t be in the post season, I usually follow one of the teams, either National or American league, through the World Series. If they don’t make it, I move to another team. Then I usually concentrate on college and pro football. But it’s hard because the games are only one day a week. I remember last season was torture waiting for Saturday to come. It was like waiting all week for your favorite cartoons when you were little. (For those younger than I am and have no clue what I am talking about, ask your parents what I mean.) It’s especially hard now because I don’t have an internet game to play to distract me since the one I played shutdown. I haven’t found a replacement. I am just not interested in it. I played the game for more than 7 years. It’s a deep gap to fill. It was fun, annoying, challenging, and something to do. I made a couple of good friends through the years with this game. We are still friends even though the game has ended. I have slowly weeded out the friends that I was not close to. There were a lot, like more than 300. I think I have cut the number in half though.

Where were you

Where were you

I cannot listen to this song, especially on this day, without crying. It is a sad reminder of all the people lost on this day.

I remember going to see my therapist on this day. As I made my way through from my home to her office, it was an eerie quiet. The radios were not playing music, but were talking. I thought that was odd. I had no clue what was going on as I don’t ever watch the news or listen to news radio. When someone told me there was an attack at the World Trade Center, in my ignorance, I thought it was the one in Boston. I didn’t learn about the trade center in New York until I got to work.

I remember the T being free. They just let you in. You didn’t have to pay. As I worked, or rather had lack of work as most of the outpatients were sent home. There was nothing to do except listen to the radio and wait for potential patients to come from NY. I worked in a hospital then, in a clinical lab. We didn’t talk much or if we did, it was very solemn. A friend had just visited the towers a week before. I had already given blood the week before so I couldn’t donate again. It was the last time I donated. I have not donated blood since then for various reasons.

The song by Alan Jackson means a lot. It has a lot of emotion in it, least for me. I think of all that was lost that day. Of the people that came together in times of this crisis to help, either through donations or with filling buckets to clear the debris. We were all one that day and the weeks to come. I don’t know why were are split now. The liberals will blame the conservatives, and vice versa. The repubs will blame the dems, and vice versa. There is no unity anymore and that need to change, and change soon. I am not a political person but I catch a glimpse of it now and then. I would truly be in a suicidal state every day if I had to listen to the bickering every day. These are our elected officials. Why can’t they get along for the common good and not their interests? But I guess the common good has gone by the way side and it’s to each their own. We were once solidified as one. Now we are a house divided. How sad is that?

World Suicide Prevention Day 2015

World Suicide Prevention Day 2015

As many of you that read my blog every day know that I struggle with suicidality constantly when I am in the darkness of my depression. I know writing has been a source of comfort and coping in dealing with these strong feelings. I have not shared suicide numbers before because I don’t think they belong on my blog. But for those that are reading this, it may help someone to talk to or text to in a crisis situation. So please, take down these numbers. Put them in a place that is safe to you, a journal, a notebook, your contact list on your phone, anywhere you might think might be helpful in an emergency and call the number.

The first number is for US only residents 1-800-273-8255. Text support to 741741 again US residents only. It MAY take some time to get to through. I know when I texted the first time, there was a 40 minute wait. I know that might seem like an eternity to someone in crisis but please hang in there and someone will get to you. If the numbers don’t work (I am human after all), please leave a comment and I will fix it. It maybe be that it no longer is in service anymore (text number). There are other resources, if you are interested. Just do a google search to find them. Wikipedia might have some too. If I find some on Twitter, I will retweet them to my page. So far they haven’t sent any numbers or website to actually help those in need just to know the warning signs, which to me, is not too helpful for those with chronic suicidality.