Episode 3

The Pursuit of Peace

Published on: 1st January, 2026

I know from personal experience that peace is the fertile soil in which happiness grows. To grow happiness, we need to create more peace within ourselves. In this episode, I am sharing with you these five tips that I wish I would have known on my first day of therapy to work on my own peace.

1. Get sober.

I believe that there are few things more important for mental wellness and stability than getting your substance abuse under control. I am not an addict or an alcoholic, but I am someone that abused a lot of substances in my day, drink a few times a year, and smoke pot for my depression. However, that doesn't mean that you should do these things, particularly if they disrupt and derail your life. They provide temporary peace in exchange for long-term harm and instability.

2. Radical Acceptance

The Stoic practice of Amor Fati led me to some significant gains in my mental wellness. Amor Fati means "love of fate", and used in practice it is "love your fate." We trade our peace for chaos when we cannot embrace the ugliness of what life delivers to us. Yes, terrible things happen to innocent people every day for absolutely no reason. No, you did not deserve whatever trauma or suffering befell you, but it's your to carry either way. The sooner you can accept it, the better off you'll be.

3. Embrace imperfection.

There's a popular saying that goes, "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good." Progress is done in small doses. Many people get hung up on their mental wellness or sobriety journey by focusing on the fact that it may not be perfect. A person may relapse and then beat themselves up for it, even though a relapse is a totally normal part of recovery. What matters most is what you do AFTER the relapse. You're not perfect. You're not going to be perfect. An imperfect good is better than an uncompleted perfect.

4. Address what you don't talk about.

Everyone carries pain and suffering. However, not everyone is able or willing to speak it outloud into the world. The problem is that trauma doesn't just disappear it. It affects you every day so long as you don't confront it and resolve it in ways you may not realize. That childhood trauma that you never talk about? That is, too. That's such an important time of development and the stress of an abusive or neglectful childhood can leave lasting wounds. These are the things that you need to talk to a therapist about most, because they are causing you more harm than you may realize.

5. Grieve the past.

Many people don't realize that grieving is an active process rather than just a feeling. Grief itself is a collection of emotions and experiences rather than just one emotion. It's a far more complicated thing than many people realize. You cannot heal grief and traumatic losses with pithy platitudes like "God has a plan!" and "Time heals all wounds!" Time absolutely does not heal all wounds. In fact, in some cases, it just makes the wounds more painful and harder to heal. If you are carrying a severe grief from the past, you need to address it with a grief counselor.

Don't forget to subscribe! https://www.bluntlybipolar.com/listen

  1. [01:16] - Start Episode
  2. [03:06] - 1. Get Sober
  3. [06:20] - 2. Radical Acceptance
  4. [12:11] - 3. Embrace Imperfection
  5. [15:56] - 4. Address What You Don't Talk About
  6. [24:35] - 5. Grieve the Past

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bluntlybipolar

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bluntlybipolar

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/bluntlybipolar.bsky.social

Email: bluntlybipolar@gmail.com

I am not a mental health professional. I do not have any qualifications or certifications of any kind. I hope that by sharing my experiences, more mentally ill people will be empowered to step into the offices of clinicians to do the hard work that leads to mental wellness, peace, and happiness. Take everything I say with a grain of salt, as all I am is a mental patient with a microphone.

All Episodes Previous Episode

Social media sucks!

Signup to receive email updates so we're not at the whim of Big Tech algorithms!
* indicates required

Intuit Mailchimp

Listen for free

Show artwork for Bluntly Bipolar

About the Podcast

Bluntly Bipolar
How would you like to listen to a middle-aged man talk about finding peace and happiness living with Bipolar Disorder, high-functioning autism, and depression for more than 30 years? You do!? Then boy do I have the podcast for you! Don't wait! Just hit play!

Jokes aside...hey, what's up? My name is Dennis Heil, and I am diagnosed with Type 2 Bipolar Disorder, and High-Functioning Autism with severe depression. I was 15 when I had my first serious suicide attempt, pulling the trigger on a bullet that misfired during a depressive psychotic episode. At 29, I had a second depressive psychotic episode that was so severe it forced me to decide between ending myself or seeking help. I decided to seek help and was diagnosed with Type 2 Bipolar Disorder. That was back in 2009, and I've been working on my recovery, peace, and happiness ever since. Bluntly Bipolar can best be described as a collection of content based on the hard lessons I've learned along the way.

I am not a mental health professional. I have no training or certifications of any kind. All I am is a mental patient with a microphone, so take everything I say with a grain of salt. This podcast is not a replacement for help from qualified, trained professionals. Listener discretion is advised as I discuss my path and life bluntly, hence the title. Makes sense, right? Almost like a built-in trigger warning...

About your host

Profile picture for Dennis Heil

Dennis Heil

The host has been working as a freelance copywriter for over 18 years now, writing in several industries as a subcontractor. He has been living with severe Bipolar-depression for over 30 years, 15 years undiagnosed, and high-functioning autism for longer. He has been working on creating his own peace and happiness in recovery since his diagnosis in 2009.

Dennis has no qualifications or certifications as a mental health professional, describing his only qualifications as his life and being a "mental patient with a microphone."

He feels most called to try to reach other misfits, broken toys, people who fell through the cracks, the bitter, the jaded, the angry, and outsiders. He believes the best way to accomplish this goal is to talk about his life experiences, struggles, and mind with raw authenticity because that's the only thing he could ever relate to in the abyss of his Bipolar-depression.