A bit about me

I am an experienced Executive Coach who, for the past five years now, has been kept very busy 'managing' a severe illness. (If you wish, you can read more about that by clicking here). I am currently engaged in recovering whilst recognising  that I have moved away from who I THOUGHT I was, that I am learning to enjoy who I am, and that I look forward to whom I will become.

As an Executive Coach I have carried out individual and group coaching programmes across the working world. I have also tutored on many coach training courses and led many coach training workshops.

I was first given the diagnosis of Bi-Polar Disorder in my early thirties and I refused it. Having grown up with my father's erratic behaviour, I wanted nothing to do with his illness. I had a second crash in my forties and, inevitably, this one was much worse. I did address some of the emotional issues that remained from my childhood but I still refused to face my illness and eventually stopped taking my medication, again. In my late fifties (following on from the menopause), my Bi-Polar Disorder faced me. This third crash near enough killed me and this time I did finally take notice of what was going on. This time I had no choice! 

Sixteen different medications, two sets of ECT (Electro Convulsive Therapy) treatments and a medication cocktail later and I have been 'medically stable' for eighteen months now. That means I am up and down like the proverbial yo-yo but the medication is keeping the fluctuations within an amplitude I can just about live with.

I have two Treasures in my life, my husband and my son who are both my technical and artistic support respectively . I sometimes feel very small next to them, which is a feat considering how heavy I am these days :0). As if that wasn't enough blessings for one person, I also have a loving broader family and a hoard of fantastic friends.

Everything interests me, particularly when others share their passion for whatever interests them.

I like classical, funk and blues music in particular, plus anything that has a great melody and a great voice. My favourite instrument is the human voice.

I am not a great TV watcher but I do enjoy watching films, such as JFK, The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption, Amelie, Tenue de Soiree, La Trilogie de Pagnol, The Bourne trilogy, Dances with Wolves, Monsoon Wedding, Strictly Ballroom, and many more.

As for books, they are too numerous to mention! I am an avid reader. Because my mother tongue is French I am very fortunate to have access to wonderful writings in both English and French.

My two favourite quotations are:

  • "Nothing benefits man more than rubbing his brains against another's" - Michel de Montaigne
  • "Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest" - Mark Twain.

As a human being, my top three Core Values are Spirituality, Love and Respect. I have a deep sense that we come to this garden planet of ours to Learn to Love (or perhaps I should say to Remember Love). Not as easy a task as it first sounds...

I am not re-building my old life - I am building an entirely new life. In the depth of my illness, I felt like I was losing myself. I have now realised that I was wrong: my illness revealed who I was at the core of my being. As such, I now look upon it as a blessing and - believe me - I NEVER thought I would ever say such  thing!

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The above was written in 2013 - it is now 2023 so ten years have elapsed since then.

If you want to read what I have written about me and my illness recently, please click on the '10 Years On' tab at the top left hand corner of the navigation bar. (https://www.bi-polargirl.com/bi-polar-girl-10-years-on)

And you can of course read my latest blog posts and view my latest videos.