Courage. I've spoken with James many times over the last couple of years, but only recently have I begun to know his story, and to appreciate the life he has lived. Several years ago, I wouldn't have felt comfortable writing these words, much less know how to respectfully engage someone's struggle in a way that reaffirms their dignity, as well as looks upon them with admiration. James is not someone I would try to get to know, normally. But something this last year clicked with me. I was offered his story, in a trusting gesture. Myself, in a place of great confusion, no longer felt threatened, but rather humbled by other circumstances, enough so that I could find a place in my thinking for James that truly recognizes him.

James exemplifies for me, what psychological courage means. When I think of courage, my first thought is of Maximus the Gladiator. Courage is required when we lose something, or loss of something in threatened. Romans prided themselves in their ability to put their lives at hazard. The cinematic story of Maximus, is of a Roman father with a murdered family, favored general with a dead emperor, and a captain without an army. These losses threaten to ruin him, they threaten his identity. But his ability to overcome these losses is what makes Maximus a Roman, what makes him courageous. He must overcome odds.

The journey of the mentally ill is different though. For someone such as James, courageous actions are not required by dangerous situations, but in the duties, relationships, and choices of each day. Mood disorders threaten the psyche of a person, in that, what is seen as the normal view of reality by most, is drastically altered by the disorder. It is a life where escape artists find ways to dull the pain, and the brave choose to live each day with the punishment their own personality delivers them.