The CV Nobody Plans to Write A Chronological Blog of Experience, Recovery, and Carrying On...

The CV Nobody Plans to Write

A Chronological Blog of Experience, Recovery, and Carrying On... 

Some people build careers. Some people build chronologies.

I appear to have done both.

I do not present myself as a perfect person.

If Northern Ireland was handing out awards for smooth journeys, flawless decision-making, and uninterrupted success, I would not be collecting one.

What I do present is a life that has been thoroughly tested by experience.

Not theory.

Not social media slogans.

Experience.

The kind that arrives without invitation and rarely asks whether it is convenient.

Bellaghy, 1984

I was born in Bellaghy in June 1984.

Like many people raised in Northern Ireland, I grew up in a culture where discussing death, farming, politics, football, funerals, weather, and cattle was often easier than discussing feelings.

The unofficial rule was simple:

Keep going.

Say little.

Get the job done.

It was not always healthy.

But it did teach resilience.

And resilience has a habit of becoming useful when life stops following the manual.

Twenty Years in the Heat

From 2000 onwards I spent almost two decades working in hospitality.

Professional kitchens are excellent teachers because reality arrives quickly.

Food either goes out right or it does not.

Customers are either happy or they are not.

Problems cannot be hidden for very long.

Kitchens taught me discipline.

They taught teamwork.

They taught communication.

Most importantly, they taught me how to stay calm when everything around me appears determined to catch fire.

Occasionally quite literally.

Standing Beside Families

Between 2013 and 2021 I worked in funeral service.

That experience shaped me in ways few professions can.

When you stand beside families during the worst days of their lives, you quickly learn what matters.

You learn patience.

You learn dignity.

You learn discretion.

You learn that listening is often more important than speaking.

You also learn that every family believes their loved one deserved the very best.

They are right.

Every single time.

When Life Changes Direction

In October 2021, life stopped behaving according to the instructions.

A burial incident at Roselawn Cemetery became the starting point of a journey through complaints procedures, legal processes, public authorities, healthcare systems, financial recovery, and administrative structures that often seemed to operate in entirely different languages.

At some point I realised nobody could clearly explain what was happening.

So I started documenting it myself.

What began as necessity slowly became structure.

The Litigant in Person Years

Most people spend evenings watching television.

I spent many of mine building chronologies.

Creating evidence bundles.

Indexing records.

Cross-referencing correspondence.

Asking questions such as:

Who made the decision?

Who owned the file?

Where was the control point?

The interesting thing is that these questions apply everywhere.

They work in kitchens.

They work in funeral service.

They work in governance.

And they work in life.

Holywell Hospital

In 2025, I spent nine weeks detained in Holywell Hospital.

It was not a chapter I would have chosen.

But it was a chapter that taught me a great deal.

The experience showed me that vulnerability is not weakness.

It showed me that systems often look very different when viewed from the waiting room rather than the boardroom.

Most importantly, it taught me that recovery is not a straight line.

It is work.

Honest, difficult, necessary work.

Financial Recovery

Following significant health and legal challenges, I entered an IVA approved through the High Court process.

Some people see that as failure.

I do not.

I see it as accountability.

Problems do not disappear because we ignore them.

Difficulties do not resolve themselves because we wish they would.

Recovery begins when we face reality honestly and deal with it properly.

That applies to finances.

It applies to health.

And it applies to life.

What Experience Has Taught Me

I do not arrive with a spotless record.

I arrive with a transparent one.

I have seen systems work well.

I have seen systems fail badly.

I have been responsible for others.

I have needed help myself.

I have learned that fairness matters most when circumstances are least fair.

I have learned that communication matters.

Accountability matters.

Record-keeping matters.

And people matter.

More than forms.

More than procedures.

More than bureaucracy.

Mindspire Position

This understanding is one of the reasons Mindspire exists.

Mindspire is not therapy.

It is not diagnosis.

It is not a crisis service.

And it is not a substitute for professional help.

Mindspire is a non-clinical lived-experience platform.

It exists to help people organise their experiences, recognise patterns, reduce stigma, seek support earlier, and understand that recovery is not weakness.

Recovery is responsibility in action.

The Clear Takeaway

The clear takeaway is this:

Nobody gets through life without difficulties.

Nobody.

The question is not whether problems arrive.

The question is what we do when they arrive.

Ask for help.

Use the support available.

Deal with issues early.

Document what matters.

Tell the truth about where you are.

And keep moving forward.

Because a transparent record is far more valuable than a perfect story.

The past cannot be edited.

But it can be understood.

It can be learned from.

And it can be used to build something better.

That is the work.

Not performance.

Not slogans.

Just truth, structure, accountability, and forward motion.

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Michael P. Lennon Jr
Mindspire | Where Lived Experience Finds Its Voice in Mental Health
HMW-AI-LIC-1984-NC-GOV
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