My name is Nick. I grew up an only child living with my parents, spending my days playing on the shores of Lake Norman in western NC and exploring the countryside at various friends and relatives houses during the weekends and summers. I started elementary school in the mid 1980s, while Charles was still in charge (if you’re old enough to remember that), and graduated high school in the year 2000. Shortly after that, as I began my college journey, I realized I suffered from anxiety, and in 2001, the day of the 9/11 attacks, I made the decision to step away from college.

For many years, I searched for who I really was, learning from each misstep along the way. I tried college again, for a brief time. I worked in many different jobs, learning various skills, such as fast food management, photo manipulation, how to drive a forklift, website creation, becoming a shift trainer in the inspection department of a production plant, and even utilized SAP, (an enterprise resource planning program, which I used when I was an inventory control clerk in a building full of millions of dollars of automotive parts). Every experience, no matter how temporary, taught me a little more about life.

In 2024, when I had finally built both the financial stability and emotional intelligence to seek a full psychological evaluation, I decided to go take the plunge. I half-assumed I was going to be told that I was on the autism spectrum, or that they couldn’t find anything wrong with me and I was just bad at coping. Instead, I was taken aback when I learned that I have (among other things) Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).

For me, BPD means living a life where emotions come in vivid, unpredictable bursts; one where every feeling is intensified and every relationship feels incredibly meaningful yet subtly fragile. My default emotion is anger, which, doesn’t make things easy. and I don’t just immediately get angry; I get disproportionately angry. It takes a lot of constant effort to maintain an appearance of civility. And it’s not merely about being overly emotional; it’s about wrestling with a deep fear of loneliness and a persistent questioning of who I truly am. Even so, I’ve discovered that with genuine support, self-awareness, and practical coping strategies, it’s possible to find balance and create a life that is both authentic and fulfilling.

I created Succotash ‘n’ Smiles as a way to connect with myself and humanity. I started the blog because I have a lot to say. Whether anybody wants to hear it or not remains to be seen. At the very least, I’m sure I will say some things in ways you’ve never seen people talk about them before. As far as my shops go, everything I create makes me feel something, and I hope that it makes you feel something as well. I take the photos. If it’s cartoon-like, it’s either a picture that I manipulated or created. I do occasionally use copyright free items to enhance my work, but everything is my original creation. I then use Printify to print and ship my items. Anything that I put on this site, I have received a sample and checked for quality myself, so I’m not just hoping that things look good before they come to you.

If you see something on my site that amuses you or piques your interest, please feel free to share it with others. If you have any questions, concerns, or just want to say hello, please reach out through one of my contact forms. Take a moment to look around, and I hope you enjoy what you see here!

– N