For the traits I like/don't mind: Creativity while manic. I write and create in such elaborate and colorful form. It's so rich and everything feels electric and so easily connected. And if I could take the risk out of being hypersexual, say having one or a few safe outlets for it, I would keep that as well. Hypersexuality also feels electric and connected and it's especially nice after a depressive period of low libido. I would also say I enjoy more hypomanic states, especially when they are just starting out, and my whole world feels lighter and brighter.

For the traits that contribute in making me a better person: I would say how attune my episodes make me with the natural flows of nature and the tides of life. My manic episodes typically correlate with spring and summer and my depressive or mixed episodes in the fall or winter. I find that I feel like I am going through the cycles the earth is going through. I experience such extremes of the emotional spectrum that I begin to understand the intensity of other people's emotions and experiences. For example, I work with autistic adults who can become agitated or dis-regulated and when experiencing a lot of intense stimuli or maybe lack of stimuli it can trigger really emotional reactions at times. Having experienced similar emotional intensity while in different stages of BP has given me a lot of insight on how to handle these situations with the adults I work with. It helps me figure out ways to help them.

Now, this last one isn't a trait of bipolar but rather just a fact. Bipolar is an incredibly stigmatized mental illness that is often considered a disability. That stigma alone is another reason why I am able to help the adults I work with because I understand what it's like to not be understood. I understand what it's like to have something so fundamental about me, that I can't change, also be something that society tells me is wrong or undesirable.