Retired educator overcomes Tourette's Syndrome and Bipolar Disorder to write the award winning inspirational book The Invisible Backpack, “A Life Of Courage” is bringing his powerful message to schools.
Living with Tourette Syndrome and Bipolar Disorder, I have faced unique challenges throughout my life. However, I have persevered and developed a message of courage and resilience, which I would love to share with your students, staff and families. My presentation focuses on overcoming judgment, embracing diversity, and living confidently in a world that can be judgmental.
Billy Hartwick's The Invisible Backpack: A Life of Courage illustrates how humans are complex people: in need of support in some ways, strong and gifted in others.
As a person with Tourette's syndrome and bipolar disorder, Hartwick struggled in the classroom in his youth but later served as a principal in a Northern California school. As an adult, he built a healthy sense of self-respect while enduring the loneliness, misunderstandings, social exclusion, and discrimination that unfortunately still often come with neurological and mental disability. His short and readable story offers hope for those with disabilities and urges all readers to accept and respect, not just the disabled, but every one of us.
The book is written in verse to add whimsy and gentle humanity as well as to provide a unique and fun reading experience. Hartwick's poetic thoughts naturally come to him in verse, and the verse helps readers get through the tough and painful sections of the narrative.
The title "The Invisible Backpack" refers to the feelings and struggles many of us hold inside that affect our lives and weigh us down. We often can't see others' struggles, and the book reminds us to pause before we judge children or adults.
Billy Hartwick's heart and compassion shine through this entire work. I finished reading in one afternoon and occasionally go back over these thoughtful words. Would recommend for all people, but especially those who teach or work with people with disabilities.
I am here to give two big thumbs up for The Invisible Backpack. William was a guest on my podcast and listeners loved him. He is a very engaging and energetic speaker. He presentation was fascinating, packed with great information, generously shared a great deal about his lived experience and inspired us all to empty our backpacks of the hurt and trauma that are slowing us down.
Response from The Invisible Backpack:
My dear friend Jed, what an amazing human you are in my life and what a blessing God did by bringing you here. Your words are powerful. I've shared them throughout my world and tomorrow I actually release gigsalad. As an author and motivational speaker a huge week ahead for me and you have given me the biggest catapult anybody has ever done. God bless you my lifetime friend. I look forward to working with you and being part of whatever I can do to support your world and education. Children are my world thank you for the opportunity.
Mahalo William
Price Range: $500 and up
Gig Length: 30 - 120 minutes
Languages: English
Transformative, excitement, emotional and tears of joy, releasing trauma from the past and life's unnecessary pain. Opening up backpacks everywhere. My presentation is exciting, personal and real. I've created a new dance called "The Twitch" and I give Young Folks hope and inspiration that there is another way. Simply put, it's new, it's different and it's captivating. I look forward to sharing my story across the world. Thank you for the opportunity
"Retired educator overcomes Tourette's Syndrome and Bipolar Disorder to write the award-winning inspirational book The Invisible Backpack, “A Life Of Courage” is bringing his powerful message to schools."
Aloha,
I am a retired teacher and principal from Northern California, Del Norte County to be specific. Home of the giant redwoods and the beautiful Smith River, the cleanest river in the continental United States. I taught first grade and I was at elementary and middle school principal for the remainder of my career. I was the principal of my own Elementary I attended, the middle school I attended, and was the principal of my kindergartens teachers school they named after her and I put her into retirement. I am the quintessential "Little Billy". Schools was extreme challenge academics I could not do. I've never read a book cover to cover and never pass a language arts class. I've got through life differently. I don't know what a coma is used for and I really am not concerned. I'm more concerned about love, life and passion for human beings. Being kind and gentle to each other is lost in today’s society. Currently, I reside in beautiful St. Augustine, Florida as an author and motivational speaker. My 1st book entitled, The Invisible Backpack, "A Life of Courage", is a rhythmical story of my life. I write in complete rhyme and I speak half my presentations as such. I'm the only one doing what I do and the message is captivating.
When I begin in rhyme, I immediately have the audience's attention. The message then becomes more clear and extremely well received. I am a unique individual and proud of my life. I live life with acceptance, patience, tolerance, and love and something new everyday. For the next 30 years of my life I get to share with the world how to overcome life's struggles, whether it's Tourette Syndrome, bipolar disorder, eating, gambling, food disorders, etc, it's all about self love. Sigmund Freud said his key to success in his life's message was about hard-work and love.
What Is Your Number
If love truly is the answer and self love is the key
What is your number, mine was 53
It's never too late to love yourself for who you are inside
People will judge you if they what they want, no reason to
ever hide
For once you experience the love I found and who you want to be
You will have the opportunity to set yourself free
Being trapped in one's head is never a pleasant place
Speaking from your heart can be seen upon your face
Remember you die once you get to live everyday
Find that self love and start another way
Today is an opportunity to give yourself a break
Love is the answer it's time for you to wake
This opportunity, again, to share with young people how to be individuals, how to accept themselves for who they are and as they're meant to be. On the back of The Invisible Backpack is this message. It was written by a reader and the description is called Why The Invisible Backpack.
The Invisible Backpack is a labor of love created from a lifelong struggle to come to terms with who the author is and accept himself as he's meant to be. We all born with an invisible backpack on our backs. It's where we put the hurts of life. When we are young and courageously climb the stairs of life, it is extremely light and we really don't know what's there. As we get older it gets heavier with whatever grief, pain or trauma we experience. Unfortunately resist taking these feelings out of our backpacks and letting go of them. Some of us hold on to them so tightly we forget to make room for the things that lighten our load, forgiveness, acceptance, tolerance and love. For if we put these items in our backpacks it will cancel out all the negative things we've been holding on to and our life Journey become much lighter.
In my life time I get to share with young folks and adults across the world how to overcome, persevere and engage in self-love and self-respect. The most used word in The Invisible Backpack is God and the second most used word is love. I truly believe that we all have a Creator and we all have a purpose. When we find love in that process we get to experience a life we never knew. There’s no reason for young people to have to suffer an entire lifetime when we can identify early, provide long-term treatment, and use medication if necessary, to overcome the traumas that we have placed upon society.
Children Are So Precious
How can anyone get so mad they must abuse a child
They have so much joy to give us in a manner that is so mild
They are so honest in the way that they speak and how they judge us all
Don't abuse that child's morale, let them stand up tall
Remember what it was like to crawl before you could walk
Please don't strike that child sit down and have a talk
Show them what's like to believe in a Holy Spirit
Don't show them your pain in agony and let them feel your hurt
Turn it over to God let those feelings of anger be stripped away
Enjoy your relationship please don't leave them astray
Remember words you speak can never be taken back
Before you turn the last child think of the damage to retract
I look forward to sharing my story. I look forward to the opportunity to learn about others and together we can make it right. My shortest rhythmical is this
A mind changed against its will
Is of the same opinion still
Mahalo
No special technology needed a stage lights sound and a microphone
My book is dedicated to Robin Williams a man I met when I was 16 years old in Northern California where I'm from. Below is my tribute to him in my book called Funny Man.
Funny Man
Laughter is an amazing way of releasing pain and sorrow
Robin you have blessed me with today and tomorrow
To hear the laughter of each individual as the joke is told
Belly chuckle to tears of joy you have broke the mold
Freedom to express yourself with no script at all
Until the production is complete and the final curtain call
Has inspired me to let it out and be myself with pride
Look out world we're going on another ride
The black heart that took you way too soon
Has inspired me to reach for the Moon
Today I get out of bed with a heart full of joy
No more pain and suffering Robin back to a joyful little boy
Microphone and music sound system. Large room, gymnasium or auditorium
New York City, NY 
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