A friend of mine who is also bipolar puts it this way: Having bipolar disorder is like seeing the world and everything in it as poetry---the highs, the lows, the wonder, the pain, the sheer intensity of it all........some of it overwhelming, but much of it worthwhile.

For me, it means also that sometimes colors and sounds are too bright and loud; and the darkness is so black I can't see my hand in front of my face, let alone find a way out. It means I can taste words and hear feelings, like the snap of a violin string when my heart breaks. It also means that I sometimes view my life metaphorically as a Ferris wheel, all lights and color and soaring into the night skies before coming back down to earth.