Messy Beauty with Shaley

01/13/2026

Bipolar Besties meet IN REAL LIFE in LA!!! we also recorded an episode comes out soon!!!!!

04/07/2025

We must all believe this if we want to around living with mental illness.

🤍🧠🫶🏻
Learn more about my mental health journey & my advocacy on www.thisisbipolar.com

It would mean the world to me if you would take the time to follow along on ig .is.bipolar or listen to the ‘this is bipolar’ podcast whetever you stream your podcasts.

On this , please remember:
Mental health is HEALTH
Mental illness is HEALTH
And it is equally (if not more) IMPORTANT and deserves to be treated that way.

I will share my story and shout about living with a mental health disorder until there is no more stigma and shame. Mental Illness and physical illness should be treated with the same importance, care and empathy.

We must all believe this if we want to around living with mental illness.

Let’s keep talking.
Our voices deserve to be heard.
Our stories need to be told.
Our stories aren’t over yet.

In solidarity,
Shaley xo

06/19/2024

HELP!!! Zane Forbes (Amaya’s boyfriend) is having a very hard time finding an actor to fill a role in his upcoming short film. If you know of anyone who might be able to fill this role please contact me ASAP.

…..

CASTING NOTICE!

Hey everyone, I’m looking for a young indigenous man 18-25 to play a leading role in my film school final project. which is a 10 minute short film. We are going into production very soon and I’m looking for somebody with the right energy and passion for the character. Please get back to me as soon as possible if this interests you!

Logline: Trapped in the tight grip of their small town and an alcoholic step-father, two brothers struggle to keep their family afloat. While one sacrifices everything to give his younger brother the opportunities he never had.

Short Synopsis: When Coal finds that his younger brother Ethan has filled out a college application, his goal quickly changes from keeping his so-called family afloat to helping his brother escape their town. With them being broke and Ethan not believing he is deserving of a chance, Coal goes to great and questionable measures to help his brother. This leaving both their futures uncertain.

Ethan Grey: 18 to 23 years old, Indigenous man. 5'10 6'1 With a medium build resembles construction work as seen in the story preferably shorter hair. Ethan Grey (21 y/o) is our supporting character and the youngest member of the Grey family. Having dreams that he can’t seem to make himself believe in, he just wants to stay in his dead end town where know one challenges him. Although Ethan is conflicted between reaching his potential or staying and helping his brother keep their family afloat. Ethan likes to be sarcastic and act confident but on the inside he is unsure, stuck and absolutely terrified of change even though he hates where he is now. Ethan's arc shows him going from being stuck in an uncomfortable comfortability and secretly hoping to be something more and reach his full potential but not believe in himself. With help from his brother his perspective changes and he sees how bad life really is and knows it's worth it now to go into the unknown and run towards something instead of away from something.

Shooting Dates: We will be going into production at the end of june and shooting June 25th, 26th and 27th in Chilliwack

10/04/2023

It’s Mental Illness Awareness Week. 🧠🤍

Mental Illness is not always visible. It isn’t always seen, I spent way to many years hiding my struggles. I’m longer silent and scared.

I am not invisible.
I have an invisible illness.

Mental Illnesses can be almost entirely invisible. I made this image over a month ago and I’ve been holding off posting. I wanted to make a big moving and powerful statement but I don’t feel loud, inspirational or powerful today. I don’t have words today and I don’t want to feel like I NEED to have wordsy words to share. I made this because i was processing this idea of invisible illnesses. If I’m honest I made it after I took picture number 2. I was feeling very alone and misunderstood. Making things helps me work through my moods. I truly believe that creating , sharing and showing up here for myself is enough.

Having an invisible illness is so so hard for so so many reasons.

I am not invisible.
I have an invisible illness.

That’s it.
Thats what I want to say today. That’s the post.

Stay Messy and Beautiful,
Shaley xo

08/11/2023

Celebrate with me!!!! My heart is bursting with joy today! Over 20,000 people care about smashing the stigma around bipolar disorder & mental illness. Over 40 million people worldwide live with a mood disorder. Chances are you know or love someone struggling right now. Go join me over on Insta and learn about our experiences or check out ‘this is this is bipolar podcast. It’s not just gif those of us that live with it. It’s all our jobs to learn how we can better understand and people with mental health disorders. Hope to see you there! 🎉🧠🤍

07/13/2023

05/29/2023

I am BEYOND EXCITED to share this conversation with you all. Elizabeth Nguyen if is a psychiatrist, author and all around delightful human being. Although Elizabeth does not live with bipolar disorder, she has family and works with bipolar youth and adults regularly. It was such a treat to talk about Elizabeth’s debut book ‘Aloha Vietnam’. It is a book with a main character that has bipolar disorder and is not a stereotype or a villain. Fair and kind res presentation of folks with bipolar disorder is rare in most of the non fiction I’ve read. I want everyone to read it because I believe that it will help us bipolar warriors see ourselves in the character of Ahn as well as educate those who don’t understand bipolar disorder.

I loved asking the questions we had for a psychiatrist that understands mood disorders. Elizabeth’s thoughtful answers both taught and confirmed me.

Be sure to check back to listen very soon!!!!

Elizabeth Nguyen, MD was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her parents were refugees from Vietnam who arrived in Honolulu in 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War.
She received her BA from Stanford University in Human Biology, her MD from Northwestern University, and her Psychiatry Residency and Child Psychiatry Fellowship training at UC Davis. She started her career in community mental health, with specific interests in cross-cultural psychiatry, the intersection of spirituality and mental health, and the healing power of water and the natural world. She is currently in private practice in Davis, CA. Aloha Vietnam is her first book and her first novel.