Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Mostly upsides

Veronica May finds that trauma can cause serious growth

Veronica May played piano while her mom made dinner.
Veronica May played piano while her mom made dinner.

It might seem strange to fixate on the upside of a condition that turns your life into chaos and just might kill you. But singer/songwriter Veronica May is determined to stay optimistic.

“So many upsides,” she says about her Bipolar 1 Disorder. “Mostly upsides. I write about it. I sing about it. I help others who have it. I educate families, and I stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves.

“It is very scary to have a manic episode. I’ve had three and I know more are coming. But the in-betweens are so very sweet that it makes it worth it.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

The long-time San Diego resident finally learned she had the disorder after a 2008 ordeal of hallucinations, paranoia, and delusions. “Once in the ambulance, I lashed out in fear,” she recalls. “The next thing I remember is waking up strapped to a bed with a mask on my face.”

But the diagnosis didn’t slow her down. Her album Awakened, written and recorded over a period of ten years, appeared in 2017; and a few weeks ago a new song, “Rise,” premiered through Guitar Girl Magazine.

With its passion, call to community power, and condemnation of “shitty politics,” “Rise” smacks down the singer’s fears and hopes, even as she muses that she’ll have to improve, if she wants to hit her own standards.

May started music as a child in her native Colorado; her mother, a onetime Colorado Symphony member, encouraged her daughter on piano. “At night, I would play while she made dinner. She has perfect pitch, so if I would play a wrong note, she would yell the right note to me.”

She eventually learned to play drums. “Even with metronome, I’m anticipating the beat.” She began to sing and write songs. She was half of the Lovebirds for six years, and also recorded three albums with San Diego’s prolific Jeff Berkley (Berkley Hart).

For the new year, May plans more shows, hopefully at the Belly Up and/or the Casbah, her favorite venues for playing with a band — although she’s happy playing solo. She loves her fellow San Diego musicians, and goes so far as to plan camping trips with many of them.

Good, bad, or ugly, she concludes, “I’ve found that trauma can cause serious growth. I can thank my adversities for my strong character.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Holiday Market At Petco Park, Will Smith’s Dance in the Darkness Tour, Light Shows, Snowfall, Caroling

Events December 12-December 13, 2024
Next Article

Can three-on-three basketball challenge the NBA?

Union-Tribune owner finds bull rider crowds booing, wearing cowboy hats backwards.
Veronica May played piano while her mom made dinner.
Veronica May played piano while her mom made dinner.

It might seem strange to fixate on the upside of a condition that turns your life into chaos and just might kill you. But singer/songwriter Veronica May is determined to stay optimistic.

“So many upsides,” she says about her Bipolar 1 Disorder. “Mostly upsides. I write about it. I sing about it. I help others who have it. I educate families, and I stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves.

“It is very scary to have a manic episode. I’ve had three and I know more are coming. But the in-betweens are so very sweet that it makes it worth it.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

The long-time San Diego resident finally learned she had the disorder after a 2008 ordeal of hallucinations, paranoia, and delusions. “Once in the ambulance, I lashed out in fear,” she recalls. “The next thing I remember is waking up strapped to a bed with a mask on my face.”

But the diagnosis didn’t slow her down. Her album Awakened, written and recorded over a period of ten years, appeared in 2017; and a few weeks ago a new song, “Rise,” premiered through Guitar Girl Magazine.

With its passion, call to community power, and condemnation of “shitty politics,” “Rise” smacks down the singer’s fears and hopes, even as she muses that she’ll have to improve, if she wants to hit her own standards.

May started music as a child in her native Colorado; her mother, a onetime Colorado Symphony member, encouraged her daughter on piano. “At night, I would play while she made dinner. She has perfect pitch, so if I would play a wrong note, she would yell the right note to me.”

She eventually learned to play drums. “Even with metronome, I’m anticipating the beat.” She began to sing and write songs. She was half of the Lovebirds for six years, and also recorded three albums with San Diego’s prolific Jeff Berkley (Berkley Hart).

For the new year, May plans more shows, hopefully at the Belly Up and/or the Casbah, her favorite venues for playing with a band — although she’s happy playing solo. She loves her fellow San Diego musicians, and goes so far as to plan camping trips with many of them.

Good, bad, or ugly, she concludes, “I’ve found that trauma can cause serious growth. I can thank my adversities for my strong character.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Yellowtail show off La Jolla, Big tuna south

Spiny lobster doing well
Next Article

The greatest symphonist of them all

Havergal Brian wrote over 30 of them
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader