05/20/2025
Rosie Viva, photographed days before publishing her first book ‘Completely Normal and Totally Fine.’ It traverses the period of time leading up to her bipolar diagnosis, candidly voices her experience with psychosis and offers a glimpse into how one can begin to recover and heal after enduring something so life altering. Within only the first hour I spent with Rosie the day this portrait was taken- I felt more comforted, validated and truly seen than I have in the last year and a half since receiving my own bipolar diagnosis. It was a certain kind of safety that I felt in our conversation, the most beautiful and nourishing kind. She put me at ease and reminded me that having this diagnosis isn’t something to wish away, or to grieve. It’s something that can be managed like anything else life could throw at us. So far I’ve found slowing down has been wildly important for me, paying attention to my body and brain’s natural fluctuations and learning to give myself some damn grace for what I went through. There’s a kind of magic that comes with having bipolar, it explains so much about my personality, and how I’ve always seen the world. The more mild moments of hypomania are better than any drug I’ve ever taken. Rosie said something in an interview the other day about how pure the euphoria feels when it’s created in your brain, and not from taking something external. The infectious excitement I can feel for life is the best quality I possess as a person. Of course, I’ll always gravitate between both ends of the emotional spectrum but it’s such a reassuring thing knowing that I will always keep trying to bend towards the light. After reading Rosie’s book, I kept thinking how it would’ve been the absolute best thing to have read when I was freshly diagnosed and so full of fear for my future. The tone is gentle, raw, hilarious and left me brimming with hope. For anyone with bipolar, or anyone with a loved one, parent, sibling, pal with bipolar - go grab a copy of Rosie’s book. There needs to be a hell of a lot more tenderness in this world for those navigating mental illness. Link in my bio for ‘Completely Normal and Totally Fine.’
