Last Friday night I had the privilege to hear Margaret Trudeau speak about her adult lifelong battle with bipolar condition. I cannot tell you how inspired I was by her courage to get up and talk openly about mental health and the very personal journey she has undertaken to be well - 'balanced, happy and at peace' was how she described it.

She has had an amazing life by anyone's standards; lived in 24 Sussex Drive, lunched with the Queen, partied with the Rolling Stones, travelled the world, authored books - some would say she has had it all. But she also has had almost everything taken from her through her illness at one time or another, living  in mental health institutions at a time when we truly didn't understand mental illness and certainly didn't understand how to treat it with any kind of humanity.

I think it is wonderful that she is able to stand up and use the same public arena that heard her "manic" stories and her stories of depression to talk about the very serious issue of mental health and how quickly life can regress to have little meaning or purpose. She talks also of the very difficult and long journey to find the right balance of medications to make her well again. Her journey of "recovery, acceptance and hope" as she refers to it.

Margaret now sits on the Executive Advisory Board of the UBC Mental Health Institute as a community advocate. She is also working with The Royal Ottawa Hospital to raise funds for their new hospital and raise public awareness of mental health issues.

No doubt Margaret Trudeau has probably garnered more publicity than any woman in Canadian history. Living in the public arena is never easy, and certainly not while you are suffering from the effects of a "brain health issue", as she called it. 

I came away inspired by her courage, her candour and her strong, clear message on the importance of finding a balance of mind, body and spirit.  It was very nice to see her well again; she deserves much happiness and peace.