Summary: When you look into the eyes of someone who’s Bi-Polar, it’s like looking at a hurricane from space. You can see the swirling mass, but the real horror and devastation are a hundred miles below you, only visible in your imagination.
I have been fighting this for most of my life, and using story and sound design I'll take you into my mind, so you can see what that storm looks like from the inside.
Unlike previous commenters, I have no direct experience with this condition, and I found this piece incredibly effective at giving me at least a glimpse of what it must be like. Aubrey Ralph's use of effects, radio drama, music and other elements (including really interesting and effective metaphors) paints a picture that would be simply impossible with words alone. A wonderful example of the power of audio. Well done!
Having spent more than a year in a relationship with a Bi-Polar person, my heart broke all over again listening to this. There is nothing as heart-wrenching as watching the person to whom you've given your life, your heart, devolve into someone you don't know - someone who can be a hateful and miserable opposite of the sweet and sensitive person you love.
You know you love this person with every fiber of your being, and yet they're never quite within your reach. You can't rightfully hate them because you know they aren't really themselves, but at the same time you have to protect yourself - and there's a lot of guilt and conflict and pain associated with that.
I've looked into those eyes and watched that swirling hurricane. I've been on the ground and survived the first side, and never fully relaxing during the eye of the storm because it was always only a matter of time before the other side of the storm slammed into our world again. I've lived it on the outside. Now Aubrey puts a sound and a voice to the disorder on the inside - a haunting rendition of what I always imagined it sounded like behind those stormy eyes.
Comments for A Dance Between Darkness & Light: My Struggle With Bipolar Disorder
Produced by A. Emily Ralph
Other pieces by A. Emily Ralph
Rating Summary
3 comments
Ari Epstein
Posted on May 18, 2015 at 01:38 PM | Permalink
Outstanding!
Unlike previous commenters, I have no direct experience with this condition, and I found this piece incredibly effective at giving me at least a glimpse of what it must be like. Aubrey Ralph's use of effects, radio drama, music and other elements (including really interesting and effective metaphors) paints a picture that would be simply impossible with words alone. A wonderful example of the power of audio. Well done!
Deanna Clohessy
Posted on April 05, 2012 at 12:35 AM | Permalink
Heartbreaking
Having spent more than a year in a relationship with a Bi-Polar person, my heart broke all over again listening to this. There is nothing as heart-wrenching as watching the person to whom you've given your life, your heart, devolve into someone you don't know - someone who can be a hateful and miserable opposite of the sweet and sensitive person you love.
You know you love this person with every fiber of your being, and yet they're never quite within your reach. You can't rightfully hate them because you know they aren't really themselves, but at the same time you have to protect yourself - and there's a lot of guilt and conflict and pain associated with that.
I've looked into those eyes and watched that swirling hurricane. I've been on the ground and survived the first side, and never fully relaxing during the eye of the storm because it was always only a matter of time before the other side of the storm slammed into our world again. I've lived it on the outside. Now Aubrey puts a sound and a voice to the disorder on the inside - a haunting rendition of what I always imagined it sounded like behind those stormy eyes.
Rob Shinnick
Posted on June 05, 2011 at 02:49 AM | Permalink
Amen, brother
I happen to share the producer's condition. I thought it was described very aptly here, and creatively too.