Manic Episode 4: Idea #205 “Boring People”

During my 4th manic episode, I had this idea:

“Let boring people do the boring stuff. Right now, you are manic, and as such, a VERY confident, obsessive, and interesting person. Do interesting stuff! When you are elevated (AS LONG AS YOU ARE STILL KEEPING EVERYONE PREP-SAFE, without following the sirens to your doom and as long as you can mitigate major risks) make art, write a song, map out your dreams, do all the things that you are compelled to do (the safe, low-risk things)… don’t try to force yourself to do the boring things that you can let yourself off the hook from doing until you become a normal, boring person again.”

There is a lot going on here. First, a few things to set aside for later… first, what do I mean by PREP?

What do I mean by PREP-safe? I’m not going to expand on it at length in this post, because the PREP idea deserves at least 4-16 of it’s own posts to really get into the concepts behind it. I’m planning out a series on it for later. But here is the idea in brief.

The point of the PREP idea is to solve a big problem that those of us with bipolar disorder all grapple with: We live lives characterized by higher levels of risk than those who do not have bipolar. Our lifelong condition is guaranteed to affect us personally, in every relationship we have, as we handle our finances, and in our careers. Our lifelong condition is not our fault, but it is our responsibility. So what can we do to take responsibility and protect ourselves and our families? PREP is the acronym I am using for a set of tools and techniques to identify, organize, and mitigate our unique risks, BEFORE our next manic episode, covering these four areas of our lives; Physical, Relational, Economical, and Professional.

Okay, so that’s PREP in a nutshell. Stay tuned for when I come back to it later. Maybe sooner than later.

Now back to Idea #205: Let boring people do boring stuff.

I think that in my non-manic state, I appear to be a pretty ‘normal’ person.

I pay my bills. I do laundry. I cook. I game. I clean. I write. I doomscroll on reddit.

And when I am doing these things, I generally feel good about them, but they are in NO WAY very interesting to watch or share with others. It’s rote stuff. It’s just the everyday plebeian work and recreation that is done by normal people with families and professions. It’s boring stuff, for a boring, non-manic, person to do.

When I am manic, I feel far more interesting.

I feel very differently than ‘normal’ or ‘average’ or ‘boring’.

Everything around me is vibrant and interesting.

I love to jump all-in to things, obsess about them, and become a 3-day expert about something I have not had any experience with prior to going manic. I feel incredibly confident and charismatic. I am able to explain ideas with conviction and excitement on a higher level than I can usually manage.

Some of what I experience may be just that, my own internal experience.

I cannot say whether those around me feel the same way about my level of charisma or how well I explain things, but I certainly feel like a far more interesting person to be around when I am manic (as long as I am keeping myself and others PREP-safe).

What I do know is that other people with bipolar also experience the same feelings of heightened creativity and energy when manic. It’s a very common experience we have together. I think that we can and should ride the wave of our mania, when it can be steered to non-destructive ends.

When I am manic, I don’t force myself to do boring stuff.

Instead, I channel my efforts on safely getting through the manic episode by making sure I am getting enough sleep, working with my professionals on my meds (a personal choice), recording my fun and interesting thoughts, NOT posting on social media (another personal choice), and creating non-destructive stuff.

I don’t beat myself up about what I am incapable of doing at that time. The normal stuff is impossible anyway, and much worse, they are boring. Leave that for my boring self to attend to, when that self returns. And/or, ask others to help with them. Admit that you cannot do the normal, boring stuff.

If I have successfully mitigated the risks to myself and my family physically, relationally, economically, and professionally BEFORE my manic episode comes, I can safely and responsibly enjoy the upsides of mania and let my creativity run wild.

I’ll keep this idea for later. That’s all for now.

See you next week!