Getting Up is a collection of poetry and prose in which the author shares her trials and triumphs while living a full and vibrant life, despite her diagnosis of a mood disorder: depression. Through streams of consciousness, touching reflections, and lists, Maxine Bigby Cunningham shares her innermost thoughts and feelings as she goes through four stages: relapse, remembering, recovery, and rising. As you become entranced in the steady rhythm of her words, you will experience the journey of one woman's "beating the blues" and remaining resilient, as well as insight into the past, cultural and racial strife, and the struggle to accept self-worth while releasing the burden of self-sabotage. While reading these pages, you will make the conscious choice to embrace imperfection and vulnerability so that you may engage in life with wholeheartedness, and you will become inspired to release the barriers in your mind to start writing down your own testimony.