YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

Hey guys,

I thought it might be nice to have a designated place for people to post their favorite quotes, song lyrics, lines of poetry, and lines from movies. If you know the source, I think it would be nice to give credit. If they are your own words, be proud and say so!

When I'm at my worst this is how I feel:
"I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth. Whether I shall ever be better I can not tell; I awfully forebode I shall not." --Abraham Lincoln

A comedian's take on a similar feeling:
"I feel like a hundred dollars." (as opposed to a million bucks) --Chevy Chase, from the movie Caddyshack

When I need to see a purpose in what I have been through:
"It's the hottest fires that make the hardest steel." --Chrysler Superbowl commercial

When I need courage to open up to someone:
"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." --Maya Angelou

A reason for me to power through pessimism:
"You deserve better. You can have better. When you realize that, you will set yourself free." --from the MIHH podcast, episode 32

From a short presentation by Brene Brown called "The Power of Vulnerability"
Shame is easily understood as the fear of disconnection. Is there something about me, that if other people know it or see it, that I won't be worthy of connection? It's universal. We all have it. The only people who don't experience shame have no capacity for human empathy or connection. No one wants to talk about it, and the less you talk about it the more you have it.

This is a link to the video. Paul mentioned it at the end of the Mike Schmidt episode. It's fantastic--about 20 minutes long and well worth it for anyone who struggles with shame or rage or connecting to people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o

This resonates with me:

In a dream, I'm a different me.
With a perfect you, we fit perfectly.
And for once in my life, I feel complete...

... and I still wanna ruin it.
-NIN, "Even Deeper"

This one is the breakup song:

Maybe I would have been something you'd be good at.
Maybe you would have been something I'd be good at.

But now we'll never know.

I won't be sad but in case I'll go there
Everyday
To make myself feel bad
There's a chance
I'll start to wonder
If this was the thing to do
-Tegan and Sara, "Call It Off"

Music helps me get through things. Gets me in the mood, gets me out of a mood, keeps me focused on something. Sometimes it isn't a song with particularly profound lyrics. There's this track called "A Real Hero" from the movie DRIVE that I've been listening to a lot in the past month. It's been keeping me steady.

hi, dystopika
hmmm nice dear i love that keep it up, but me looking some extraordinary quotes some type of short friendship quotes

Great thread, dare i say it.

A line that makes me laugh from time to time is:

"Humiliation is good, it means you believe in something." ---Smog/Bill Callahan --"Fool's Lament."

I feel like humiliation is something everyone experiences on a near daily basis, and what we each feel humiliated about says so much about ourselves.

Another one I like:

"I just got back from a dream attack
That took me by surprise
And in there I met a lady
Her name was Shady Sides
And she said:

It's been evening all day long
It's been evening all day long and
How can something so old be so wrong" --Silver Jews -- "Trains Across the Sea."

I'm not sure why this one resonates with me so much. As someone who spends a good deal of time inside of his own head, I feel like acknowledging the surreality of fantasies and daydreams is important.

It's so heartwarming to see more people getting involved in the forum. "How can something so old be so wrong." Wow. I don't know what original author of that line was intending, but that struck a chord with me as someone who is coming out of a very, very long very, very dark phase of my life.

Another short line that relates to the quote about humiliation:
Lean into the discomfort.

I don't know the original source. There's probably a healthy way and an unhealthy way to do this. For me, it's about accepting vulnerability as part of the deal with life. Strictly avoiding things that are uncomfortable or that involve a small amount of risk--that's a recipe for a very small, unsatisfying life. To be fair, it was nearly impossible for me to "lean into the discomfort" before I stepped up my coping skills.

Cool idea. I've got one that I'm working on developing a tattoo for. Something to remind me that everyone goes through shit in their lives and to keep an eye out for when I start sliding into depression:

Midway upon the journey of my life
I found myself within a forest dark,
For the straightforward pathway had been lost.

From the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (roughly translated from 14 century Italian).

And another that your Maya Angelou quote made me think of:

If we knew each other's secrets, what comforts we should find. - John Churton Collins

Gah...I'm always a bit embarrassed to admit to being a John Mayer fan (his music, not him), but anyways, there's this one older song of him that gets to me every single time called"Not Myself"

Would you want me when I'm not myself? Wait around while I am someone else?

That's how I feel sometimes, like heartbreakingly lonely, like who would want to deal with being around me while I do feel like someone else.

One of my favorite late 80s Elvis Costello songs.. All Grown Up


"I`m trouble" she said
Spread out on the floor of her father`s house
Her promise was almost undone
Under her tongue, dissolving her responsibilities
To finally deny everyone with unflattering comparison

CHORUS
All grown up
And you don`t care anymore
And you hate all the people that you used to adore
And you despise all the rumors and lies of the life you led before

Did I hear you right?
You`re feeling hounded and pushed around
You want to just lay down and die
If all of this life has been such a big disappointment to you
Why don`t you stop blaming some guy
And go give the next one a try

CHORUS

But look at yourself
You`ll see you`re still so young
You haven`t earned the weariness
That sounds so jaded on your tongue

"I`m weak" she says
And blesses herself and gets into bed
Clutching the covers to her throat
"So punish me now and let me go back to the sham of my life"
"This night is the perfect antidote for all of the poison that
you wrote"

CHORUS

1) Former Boss: Aerin, don't you know that you could catch more flies with honey than with vinegar?
Me: Well, some motherfuckers are allergic.

2) "If there was a better way to go then it would find me/ I can't help it, the road just rolls out behind me/ Be kind to me or treat me mean/ I'll make the most of it, I'm an extraordinary machine." ---Fiona Apple (Extraordinary Machine)

3) "Depression can seem worse than terminal cancer, because most cancer patients feel loved and they have hope and self-esteem." --David D. Burns