How are you? Really. [5].

This is a question I used to ask semi-annually, but it’s been over a year since I last asked it. This is as good a time as any, I believe, to revisit it.

When meeting friends or acquaintances on the street, it’s almost impossible not to ask, “How are you?” Yet we don’t think about the answer we hear.

We give little thought to the words and the meaning behind them when someone answers this ubiquitous question.

Here’s a relatively anonymous forum to lay it all out. Let the collective know how you feel these days.

How’s it going?

Really.

As for me, I am good. I recently completed a 4-week intensive course to become a Hawai`i Certified Peer Specialist in mental health. I learned much to help my fellow sufferers of mental illness, and I was helped along the way. I had one particularly awful symptom of my bipolar disorder that left me completely as a result of the classes. It was miraculous really.

I am still poor, living on just disability, but I have a roof over my head, food in the cupboard, and clean water and air. Most importantly, the training I completed opens up the job market for me. I am waiting to be placed in a 3-month internship, after which I’ll be able to work anywhere that will hire me. I have high hopes for the future.