Too Late To Learn?

National Public Radio recently interviewed Todd Snider on the release of his new album, The Excitement Plan, where he uses therapeutic humor to manage the bipolar swings.

The songs touch the heart of the struggle of what it means to be bipolar. There is one song that wishes his therapist could be more specific than "do the best you can do." Another song that finds the comedy of errors of landing in jail as a "political prisoner" for a drug possession. Yet another song highlights that you can run a Doc "No-hitter" Ellis, where one can do good when running highly wrong. Indeed, none of these songs are about following conventional wisdom.

While I can't say I agree with the appropriateness of all the songs' content, I do agree with the approach. The songs are real. They also reflect his personal walk of discovery. Drugs and alcohol are often used to medicate the swings when we can't control or grasp how low we can go.

I can understand and empathize with Snider's struggle. You would figure that at 40-something you would know better, to do things right. Instead, we often feel like we're in a constant 20-something hamster wheel learning mode. It's like reading a 15 year old journal entry and seeing the same drama that just happened yesterday. The hard fact to face is that the only common denominator is you. It is so nice to have people coming out of the closet with their struggles. It let's us know that we are not alone, that those we love are not alone in their struggles.

However, it's empowering to think that if we embrace that which is therapeutic, that which is supportive, that which brings us solace, and do that which allows us to feel our best, we might just be on to something that allows us to be the best we can be not despite the illness but because of it.

Todd's songs are actually kind of catchy too. Do check him out.

The Afterw@rd