{"id":8558,"date":"2014-09-07T20:55:32","date_gmt":"2014-09-08T03:55:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/?p=8558"},"modified":"2018-05-15T09:56:52","modified_gmt":"2018-05-15T16:56:52","slug":"guest-blogger-martin-marty-baker-author-of-gum-on-my-shoe-one-step-at-a-time-with-my-bipolar-best-friend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/guest-blogger-martin-marty-baker-author-of-gum-on-my-shoe-one-step-at-a-time-with-my-bipolar-best-friend\/","title":{"rendered":"Embracing the Journey. Guest Blogger Martin (Marty) Baker: Author of Gum on My Shoe: One Step at a Time with My Bipolar Best Friend"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"marty<\/a><\/p>\n

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Like many of the friends I’ve met on the internet, Marty charmed me with his commitment to helping those with bipolar disorder, especially his friend Fran.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>I asked him to write about his experiences as a friend of someone who has bipolar disorder and how it has changed his life. You can read more about Marty\u00a0in the bio below, and of course there are lots of links, because if you are a mental health writer, you need to know Marty!!<\/span><\/p>\n

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Embracing the Journey<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>by Martin Baker<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

“You\u2019re stuck with me now, Frannie.”\u00a0\u00a0“Like gum on my shoe!”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

People are always interested when I say I’m writing a book called Gum on My Shoe<\/i>. What’s it about they ask? I say,\u00a0 \u201cIt describes my friendship with Fran who lives 3000 miles away. Fran has bipolar disorder. She gets depressed, manic sometimes and is frequently suicidal. Despite the distance, I\u2019m her main support.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I wonder if you can guess some of the responses I get:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGee that\u2019s rough on you!\u201d \u201cI couldn\u2019t do that!\u201d \u201cShe\u2019s lucky to have you!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I always reply in the same way: It\u2019s not rough on me at all, our friendship is a giving, loving and very rewarding two way street. You might find yourself in a similar situation one day, don’t sell yourself – or your friends – short! And yes, Fran is lucky. And so am I, to have her in my life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently someone asked a\u00a0 different question \u2013 one that was easier to answer, \u201cWhat gifts does your friendship bring you?\u201d I could tell she understood how and why I get so much from being friends with someone who has\u00a0bipolar disorder.\u00a0 Being friends with an \u201cill\u201d person is challenging. Of course it is! But it\u2019s also powerfully rewarding, life-affirming \u2014 and\u00a0 joyful.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What gifts does my friendship with Fran bring to my life?<\/b> <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been friends now for three years, and we\u2019ve journeyed together through\u00a0 mania, depression and debilitating fatigue, with suicidal thinking a\u00a0more or less constant companion. Fran\u2019s said many times she wouldn\u2019t be\u00a0here if it wasn\u2019t for my support: \u201cWe live 3,000 miles apart – and I would not be alive without you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But our friendship has never been a burden. I\u2019ve learned so much, and I\u2019m\u00a0still learning. I\u2019m learning about tears<\/span>, laughter<\/span>,<\/span> despair<\/span> and the\u00a0courage <\/span>it takes to live an honest life. We share life\u2019s ups and downs \u2014 and an occasional beer \u2014 like all friends do. We meditate together and\u00a0 I\u2019m also exploring mindfulness and other life-skills. I\u2019ve taken courses including Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) and Applied Suicide\u00a0Intervention Skills Training (ASIST).<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m learning I can make a difference and that I have a voice and a reason to use it. I\u2019m meeting some amazing people.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m embracing the journey. One step at a time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Marty<\/b><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

PS: \u00a0I’m in the writing process for Gum on My Shoe and will let Julie know as soon as it’s published!<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"GumOnMyShoeCover_420x600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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About the author<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Martin Baker (\u201cCall me Marty\u201d) lives in the northeast of England. It\u2019s a writers\u2019 household. His wife writes historical fiction and their son is working on a fantasy novel. A Mental Health First Aider and a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Mind, and BipolarUK, Marty is passionate about raising awareness of mental health issues. He is active online and runs the social media for Gum on My Shoe<\/em>. In May 2014, \u00a0he completed a zip-line challenge for the UK homelessness charity Crisis and will complete a 10 kilometre walk in September 2014 in aid of the Alzheimer\u2019s Society. As a \u2018virtual walker\u2019 he will accompany co-author Fran Houston on the annual fundraising walk for NAMI, in Portland, Maine. Marty and Fran are currently seeking an agent for their non-fiction book Gum on My Shoe: One Step at a Time with My Bipolar Best Friend<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0Links:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Gum on My Shoe Website and Blog<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0 ****\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0****\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Please feel free to\u00a0email Marty and let\u00a0 him know what you thought of his blog.\u00a0 martin.baker\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 @\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hotmail dot com.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

You can find Martin’s Facebook pages under Martin Baker<\/a> and for the book Gum on My Shoe<\/a>. His Goodreads page is under the name Marty Baker. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"marty<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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A note from Julie:<\/span> <\/strong>Wait! There’s more! Marty is having a contest on his Gum on My Shoe website where you, dear reader can win books from mental health authors, including myself and fellow guest bloggers Gayathri Ramprasad and Sherry Joiner. Here is the link<\/span><\/a> <\/span>and here’s a pic of some of the books offered. The contest goes until Sept 30, 2014, so you have plenty of time to enter. Marty is quite a mover and shaker when it comes to getting the word out about mental health management. Thank you Marty for all that you do! <\/span><\/p>\n

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\"anniversary-giveaway-prize-22\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"marty<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Like many of the friends I’ve met on the internet, Marty charmed me with his commitment to helping those with bipolar disorder, especially his friend Fran. I asked him to write about his experiences as a friend of someone who has bipolar disorder and how it has changed his life. You can read more about Marty in the bio below, and of course there are lots of links, because if you are a mental health writer, you need to know Marty!!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Embracing the Journey by Martin Baker<\/p>\n

“You\u2019re stuck with me now, Frannie.” “Like gum on my shoe!”<\/p>\n

People are always interested when I say I’m writing a book called Gum on My Shoe. What’s it about they ask? I say, \u201cIt describes my [ Read More ]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8558"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8558"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11252,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8558\/revisions\/11252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}