Negativity!

As the founder of SweatShop Industries—and not an AI—I have feelings I like to express. Heck, breathing is as much a sensation as it is an autonomous biological process, and at times, one we control—just as feelings can be. Doubt me? Hold your breath. Now breathe. Notice what you didn’t feel? Sometimes, I feel negativity. I enjoy the work I do; however, I spend a lot of time working alone and on the computer. Was it always that way? No. I used to have a girlfriend—more on that someday. So, will it always be this way? I hope not.

Recently, I spent eight days at Sheppard Pratt, and if there’s anything I learned, it’s that no condition is permanent, and lack can easily become abundance. At Sheppard Pratt, I lacked access to my electronics and the ability to do much of anything without a doctor’s permission. Yet, there was no lack of captive patients to engage with. Now that I’m back in my office—which I run out of my childhood bedroom—there’s such an abundance of time alone. No wonder doctors think I’m bipolar or schizophrenic. Albeit, I’m neither. I’m just making do. Who ever considers that the conditions—or circumstances—that arise in life can themselves be bipolar (or dichotomous), and our reaction an attempt to return to a state of equilibrium.

So, what then is SweatShop Industries? Maybe it's a drastic reaction to a negative event! My drastic reaction to a negative event. Need proof? About a week before being confined at Sheppard Pratt, I had been in Calvert Health's Inpatient Mental Health Unit (Level 5) for a little over a month, when law enforcement finally arrested me for "allegedly [causing] about $10,000 in damage to assorted medical equipment belonging to the hospital." It’s true—I did damage equipment in a hospital. However, the real question is why? The answer lies in these questions: Why was I in Calvert Health’s Inpatient Mental Health Unit (Level 5)? What did I witness while there? And what had I done, prior to destroying property, to gain my freedom?

Can you find the positivity in all this?