Fabulous! I am and always will be a fan of "the street". I am hoping to add this to my Sesame bookshelf for Christmas.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Nothing Was the Same
by Kay Redfield Jamison
"It has been said that grief is a kind of madness. I disagree. There is a sanity to grief, in its just proportion of emotion to cause, that madness does not have." So writes Kay Redfield Jamison, the clinical psychologist whose widely acclaimed 1995 memoir, "An Unquiet Mind," revealed her lifelong struggle with manic-depressive illness. "Nothing Was the Same" is the story of her marriage to the late Richard Wyatt, a man who overcame severe childhood dyslexia to become a leader in schizophrenia research. With the blend of straightforward frankness and poetic eloquence for which her earlier book drew praise, Jamison describes the almost 20 years of their life together as a love affair that encompassed not only their shared work, colleagues, family and friends, but also her mental illness and the cancer that ultimately claimed his life in 2002. One thing that makes this book especially compelling is its quiet matter-of-factness in the face of personal catastrophe. ..... Every step carries emotion -- shock, dread, hope, joy, despair -- and Jamison portrays each of these with piercing clarity. Still, the overall tone of her recounting is even, spare and thoughtfully analytical, avoiding grimness and offering some leavening lighter touches, like Wyatt's affectionate characterization of Jamison's manic-depressive mind: "a delicate ecosystem, a pond of subtle alkalinities, which was kept alive through a finely honed mix of lithium and love and sleep, or, as he imagined it, 'water grasses and dragonflies, and a snail or two to tidy up.' " (Amazon)
This was a very bittersweet read, to know the inevitable ending, to hear of the hope in the varied diagnoses, to wonder if Jamison would be alright without her husband. It is a well-written memoir and a sad but comforting book.
Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals
by Christopher Payne
For more than half the nation's history, vast mental hospitals were a prominent feature of the American landscape. From the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth, over 250 institutions for the insane were built throughout the United States; by 1948, they housed more than a half million patients. The blueprint for these hospitals was set by Pennsylvania hospital superintendant Thomas Story Kirkbride: a central administration building flanked symmetrically by pavilions and surrounded by lavish grounds with pastoral vistas. Kirkbride and others believed that well-designed buildings and grounds, a peaceful environment, a regimen of fresh air, and places for work, exercise, and cultural activities would heal mental illness. But in the second half of the twentieth century, after the introduction of psychotropic drugs and policy shifts toward community-based care, patient populations declined dramatically, leaving many of these beautiful, massive buildings—and the patients who lived in them—neglected and abandoned.
Architect and photographer Christopher Payne spent six years documenting the decay of state mental hospitals like these, visiting seventy institutions in thirty states. Through his lens we see splendid, palatial exteriors (some designed by such prominent architects as H. H. Richardson and Samuel Sloan) and crumbling interiors—chairs stacked against walls with peeling paint in a grand hallway; brightly colored toothbrushes still hanging on a rack; stacks of suitcases, never packed for the trip home.Accompanying Payne's striking and powerful photographs is an essay by Oliver Sacks (who described his own experience working at a state mental hospital in his book Awakenings). Sacks pays tribute to Payne's photographs and to the lives once lived in these places, "where one could be both mad and safe." (from Amazon)
This is a fabulous collection of photographs. The end section also refers specifically to the loss of Danvers State Insane Asylum.
For more than half the nation's history, vast mental hospitals were a prominent feature of the American landscape. From the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth, over 250 institutions for the insane were built throughout the United States; by 1948, they housed more than a half million patients. The blueprint for these hospitals was set by Pennsylvania hospital superintendant Thomas Story Kirkbride: a central administration building flanked symmetrically by pavilions and surrounded by lavish grounds with pastoral vistas. Kirkbride and others believed that well-designed buildings and grounds, a peaceful environment, a regimen of fresh air, and places for work, exercise, and cultural activities would heal mental illness. But in the second half of the twentieth century, after the introduction of psychotropic drugs and policy shifts toward community-based care, patient populations declined dramatically, leaving many of these beautiful, massive buildings—and the patients who lived in them—neglected and abandoned.Architect and photographer Christopher Payne spent six years documenting the decay of state mental hospitals like these, visiting seventy institutions in thirty states. Through his lens we see splendid, palatial exteriors (some designed by such prominent architects as H. H. Richardson and Samuel Sloan) and crumbling interiors—chairs stacked against walls with peeling paint in a grand hallway; brightly colored toothbrushes still hanging on a rack; stacks of suitcases, never packed for the trip home.Accompanying Payne's striking and powerful photographs is an essay by Oliver Sacks (who described his own experience working at a state mental hospital in his book Awakenings). Sacks pays tribute to Payne's photographs and to the lives once lived in these places, "where one could be both mad and safe." (from Amazon)
This is a fabulous collection of photographs. The end section also refers specifically to the loss of Danvers State Insane Asylum.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Veteran's Day
In recognition of our veterans, or perhaps for some other reason, we're about to be inundated with Veteran's issues in time for Veteran's day. Why only this week? Haven't we known about these problems for years?
Here's a great article in today's Boston Globe about homeless veterans in Massachusetts.
It mentions the Veterans Northeast Outreach Center in Haverhill, MA. Right up the road, I may give them a call.
Also, Wednesday evening is a local film screening of The Good Soldier. Here's the info:
The Good Soldier
Wed Nov 11
7:30 P.M.
Cape Ann Community Cinema
21 Main Street
Gloucester, MA
(978) 282-1988
Tix at box office or call with credit card.
about the film:
Here's a great article in today's Boston Globe about homeless veterans in Massachusetts.
It mentions the Veterans Northeast Outreach Center in Haverhill, MA. Right up the road, I may give them a call.
Also, Wednesday evening is a local film screening of The Good Soldier. Here's the info:
The Good Soldier
Wed Nov 11
7:30 P.M.
Cape Ann Community Cinema
21 Main Street
Gloucester, MA
(978) 282-1988
Tix at box office or call with credit card.
about the film:
“The Good Soldier” follows the journeys of five combat veterans from different generations of American wars as they sign up, go into battle, and eventually change their minds about what it means to be a good soldier.
A film that could not be more timely, “The Good Soldier” poses the question: What is it that makes a good soldier?
The answer: The ability to kill other human beings.
“The Good Soldier” reveals how soldiers simultaneously grapple with their duty and their own humanity.
The veterans tell of their alien surroundings, their connection to their comrades, and the ghastliness of their reality. Some were wounded, some lost their buddies, some lost their sanity as they tried to quench their intense thirst for revenge by killing the enemy and, consequently, killing civilians. Some buried the enormity of their actions and did not speak of them --- knowing only that they were following orders their commanders had required to conduct the war.Each man, in his own time, discovers the courage to confront his past actions and begin his healing. Even though they are still haunted by their time in combat, their ability to face themselves in their waking life and achieve self- reconciliation, is the mark of true valor.
A film that could not be more timely, “The Good Soldier” poses the question: What is it that makes a good soldier?
The answer: The ability to kill other human beings.
“The Good Soldier” reveals how soldiers simultaneously grapple with their duty and their own humanity.
The veterans tell of their alien surroundings, their connection to their comrades, and the ghastliness of their reality. Some were wounded, some lost their buddies, some lost their sanity as they tried to quench their intense thirst for revenge by killing the enemy and, consequently, killing civilians. Some buried the enormity of their actions and did not speak of them --- knowing only that they were following orders their commanders had required to conduct the war.Each man, in his own time, discovers the courage to confront his past actions and begin his healing. Even though they are still haunted by their time in combat, their ability to face themselves in their waking life and achieve self- reconciliation, is the mark of true valor.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
The Way We Get By
POV will be showing this film in most areas on Nov 11 - Veteran's day. We've been doing a lot of thinking about veterans' support at the peace center, and I look forward to seeing this film. At the opening, there was a woman who spoke who is a troop greeter at Pease Airport in NH.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Talk Talk Talk
I had a very involved day today, visiting with F/friends, discussing my spiritual state of affairs ad infinitum.
How often does the mere act of being listened to help and support our growth? I didn't really get any "advice" today specifically. I did hear many stories of others' ways forward and openings. Perhaps not applicable in all ways, but gems of hope in their successes.
I've been doing a lot of thinking about perceptions this week. I shared some observations with a friend and they were "taken the wrong way" - or so I thought. Perhaps his insights into my words challenged me to new directions. I can't really assume there is any "wrong" way - the way my words rest in another's heart reflect that person's sensibilities more than my own. It was a careful reminder to me of how often we shut down those avenues of listening, as we consider not only what is being said, but its "truth" as we know it. Finding Truth, not just "truth" - is so much harder! I was upset by the news of this - and still am, but more so to think that my words could have hurt another who has been kind to me. Again, all about me. As so much is these days. This stretching/thinking/growing is hard work. I'm trying now to get out of my head and make so little about me - as I wake to new possibilities, an upcoming week of helping and considering others might be exactly what I need.... (oops, me again!)
The Waking
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.
We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.
Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me, so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.
This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.
~ Theodore Roethke ~
(The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke)
How often does the mere act of being listened to help and support our growth? I didn't really get any "advice" today specifically. I did hear many stories of others' ways forward and openings. Perhaps not applicable in all ways, but gems of hope in their successes.
I've been doing a lot of thinking about perceptions this week. I shared some observations with a friend and they were "taken the wrong way" - or so I thought. Perhaps his insights into my words challenged me to new directions. I can't really assume there is any "wrong" way - the way my words rest in another's heart reflect that person's sensibilities more than my own. It was a careful reminder to me of how often we shut down those avenues of listening, as we consider not only what is being said, but its "truth" as we know it. Finding Truth, not just "truth" - is so much harder! I was upset by the news of this - and still am, but more so to think that my words could have hurt another who has been kind to me. Again, all about me. As so much is these days. This stretching/thinking/growing is hard work. I'm trying now to get out of my head and make so little about me - as I wake to new possibilities, an upcoming week of helping and considering others might be exactly what I need.... (oops, me again!)
The Waking
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.
We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.
Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me, so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.
This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.
~ Theodore Roethke ~
(The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke)
When the Shoe Fits
Ch'ui the draftsman
Could draw more perfect circles freehand
Than with a compass.
His fingers brought forth
Spontaneous forms from nowhere. His mind
Was meanwhile free and without concern
With what he was doing.
No application was needed
His mind was perfectly simple
And knew no obstacle.
So, when the shoe fits
The foot is forgotten,
When the belt fits
The belly is forgotten,
When the heart is right
"For" and "against" are forgotten.
No drives no compulsions,
No needs, no attractions:
Then your affairs
Are under control.
You are a free man.
Easy is right. Begin right
And you are easy.
Continue easy and you are right.
The right way to go easy
Is to forget the right way
And forget that the going is easy.
~ Chuang Tzu ~
(In the Dark Before Dawn, trans. Thomas Merton)
Ch'ui the draftsman
Could draw more perfect circles freehand
Than with a compass.
His fingers brought forth
Spontaneous forms from nowhere. His mind
Was meanwhile free and without concern
With what he was doing.
No application was needed
His mind was perfectly simple
And knew no obstacle.
So, when the shoe fits
The foot is forgotten,
When the belt fits
The belly is forgotten,
When the heart is right
"For" and "against" are forgotten.
No drives no compulsions,
No needs, no attractions:
Then your affairs
Are under control.
You are a free man.
Easy is right. Begin right
And you are easy.
Continue easy and you are right.
The right way to go easy
Is to forget the right way
And forget that the going is easy.
~ Chuang Tzu ~
(In the Dark Before Dawn, trans. Thomas Merton)
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