In trying to meet friends and possible love interests outside of my general comfort zone, I keep finding such discouraging posts that state "I have no baggage; you shouldn't either!"; I, like I'm sure many of you have also, had an "interesting" life fraught with difficulties and experiences that we may not necessarily have been proud of, and/or experienced a turbulent childhood that may best had been left forgotten, on top of the mental health challenges.

I think a lot of people fail to realize that "baggage" is the culmination of our life experiences. It's the good, the bad, the things we're proud of, the circumstances wherein we may have stumbled but are still going forward and looking for our own brand of salvation from what has slowed us down in the past. Or even the present. What a person was in the past is not necessarily who they are now, nor does it define who they will be in the future. People do change: we do find better ways to cope and reframe the negative energies that intertwine our souls us into positive ones that help us get the best possible out of life as we can (granted, it isn't always easy, but it most certainly is possible).

I was told a few years ago that the best I could hope for in dealing with my bipolar challenges is a comfortable place on the couch or working at McDonalds. Thank you, for the ever so disempowering medical model of encouragement to light my way, oh worldly and all-knowing psychiatrists. But it was also a challenge to become more than just a couch potato, I later found.

Recovery, as I've mentioned, is pretty broad - it can take the form of recovery from substance addiction, mental health challenges, abuse in its myriad forms, a terrible childhood, or any combination thereof. It is, by any definition, not a complete list of what we can recover from. It helps considerably to have love in our lives - be it the support of friends or family; affection from those that care about us; an abundance of slobbery kisses from our dogs; or to some, the beauty and light that our spiritual connection brings us. Love breeds hope; in turn, hope fosters the empowerment to have the courage to make our own choices and strive to make the dreams we have become reality. The culture which we surround ourselves with adds to that: by being in a safe, mutually supportive environment wherein we are allowed to make those mistakes repeatedly until we learn what that lesson has taught us. The freedom to fail and try again, when needed, is a crucial portion of Recovery. There can be many aspects to what helps a person become all they were meant to be; each of us can open up our toolboxes of what we've personally learned in our Recovery, thus sharing our own experiences and insight; however the steps that person takes is a unique journey for each individual to discover.

Those of us who have been through Peer Employment Training to become Peer Supporters have taken what many people consider as "baggage" and used it (or are in the process of using it) for something greater than themselves - giving back and sharing in the hope that other people can recover also.

I know this because I've been through the system and I'm working toward helping others find discover themselves in a positive, empowering way. I've changed careers toward pursuing a degree in Social Work (LCSW preferably) and am working at an organization that sincerely promotes Recovery in all its forms. I've found that everything in life, the people I've met, the things I see, what I've tripped over and where I've excelled, is a learning experience. I may not know what it meant at that particular moment, but I will learn from it.

And yes, what I've written is mine. The concepts are those I've learned, but the way it's expressed is my own.

I hope this helps, at least partially, to explain what a number of peers here have inquired about. I hope, in the near future, to open a forum or blog to further discuss this.

All the best,
K