True credit for this post goes to Rev. Jen Crow for planting the seed shared here. I am merely passing the tale along for others to read. Her Sunday sermon was about the possibilities of imagining with purpose. Recently I have been doing some "visioning" in alignment with my job search. I believe that the concept is "if you can see it, you can possibly be it." I am not sold on the concept yet, but open to the magic if it should find me. How is that for noncommittal?
This particular story is a true one of Colorado native Scott Harrison. It is his Carousel of Happiness. The beginning of the tale starts in his days as a Vietnam Marine vet. As many soldiers carry charms or keepsakes to give them solace during their dark journeys, his was not the usual photograph or letter. For Scott it was a small music box that played Chopin's "Tristesse." He carried it with him through his bleakest days and said that it took him to a beautiful place in the mountains where a carousel was spinning. Harrison was one of the fortunate who managed to survive those jungles, yet brought home many of those same horrible visions.
Flash forward to 1986 when a friend told him of a vintage merry-go-round for sale and Scott jumped at the offer. The piece itself had been damaged by fire and wear - only the frame and motor were able to be salvaged. He brought it back to his native Colorado. And at that point he began to pursue a new calling of hand carving the animals for the ride. Mind you he had never done such a task in his life. But he wanted it to be a momentous keepsake for all. Instead of standard horses, he meticulously carved bright, whimsical and unconventional species. There are rabbits, pumas, St Bernards, kangaroos, mermaids - a colorful menagerie to choose from. In addition he decorated the canopy with tiny fairies that fade in and out of view as the ride revolves.
This entire outpouring of joy is now a beacon for the residents of Nederland CO. It debuted in 2010 where rides are a simple $1. I hope to ride it one day. Prophetic Imagination indeed!
Please note, I am not intending to point fingers. Negotiation & problem solving have always been core to me and I guess I like to approach things from that angle. So I am merely shedding information that might help others assemble issues into something tangible.
From my short time at #PrideInstitute, I was given both a crash course and a glimpse into the world of Mental Health and how it not only impacts, but disrupts lives. I am by no means an expert. But I do have a grasp on its bigger picture. From the science side - their experts are certainly the "bottom feeders" of the medical pyramid. If you have a fever - the cause can be A,B,C and the remedy can possibly be 1, 2 or 3. Even in complex cases like cancer or AIDS where there is no cure, the prognosis gets clearer each year and there is no doubt that diagnosis is usually conclusive - unless someone has mixed up a lab result. But with mental health, it has only been in the last 50 years that any sort of credence has been given. Asylums and shock treatments may seem archaic, but look at any text book and you can see that they are still recent solutions. And it has only been in the last 25 years that doctors have begun to agree and notate what constitutes a mental health issue or tried to create some notable criteria that science can agree on. These are the doctors - the public is light years behind on comprehending any of this.
So in most basic terms - a DSM code stands for a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual determination that serves as a current standard to everything from Bi Polar to Personality Disorders. A current notation of DSM V - refers to the latest update of the manual, current to 2013. To give some insight; homosexuality was wrestled with and first classified as a mental disorder by doctors in 1952. By 1972 only 20 years later, it was struck, as a new generation determined it was NOT an illness but a genetic trait. So one can see how tempestuous and temporary this slippery slope is.
Fast forward to our current political climate. Much mud has been flung at the walls, but it is the first time that scientists are entering the fray. Please look at the current diagnosis for Narcissitic Pesonality Disorder. There are 9 traits. This is not just bad mouthing someone's behavior. But trying to categorize it as a medical condition with specific parameters. Take time to read the approved list and tell me if this sum of the facts does not make some sort of logical sense? This does not offer up a cure. It is merely pointing out a roster of 9 possible traits that point to a learned conclusion. If you believe in this field, there is definitely some weight to the argument - even to an unlearned observer.
But because this field of the medical community does not have the same heritage, it also doesn't carry the same pedigree of someone examining a physical chart of chemical levels and prescribed medications. And up to this point, it has never been deemed necessary to ask for any sort of mental health consult. A military advisor can offer up experienced witness. A legal team can offer up constitutional advice. We now also expect an entire Cabinet to lead in areas of designated experience. But never before have psychiatric mentors felt or been asked to offer their observations. But they are speaking up!
So please, just consider. Do not react or debunk. But just look at the facts & logic and tell me if it does not at least offer up something new in the discussion.
With all the recent hype of "Alternative Facts" that are now apparently present in the world, my curiosity was piqued by an article that is looking at the Alternative Universe of a life without an AIDS epidemic. For a moment, think about where some of our icons would be 35 years later if nearly an entire generation of victims had not succumbed to an incredible tragedy. What would Rock Hudson look like in his twilight years? What art exhibits would Mapplethorpe be working on? What music projects would Freddie Mercury be collaborating on and in what genre?
Film maker Leo Herrara hopes to tackle this enigma in a combined art/ faux documentary project called Fathers. If these lost pioneers were still alive, what wisdom and perspective could they offer as mentors to a younger generation that quickly seems to have lost a sense of the history that was earned for them? Using technology much like forensics, he plans to hypothesize what they might look like. And by drawing on historical sources of family, relationships and other survivors he hopes to create a maze of possibilities in the present. Think of it as a Time Machine that skipped a few horrible blips in the calendar of humanity. It is only in the crowd sourcing phase, but I can't imagine that handfuls of philanthropic gay men would not be lining up in droves to rally the troupes. It will be set in three worlds of New York, San Francisco and New Orleans where the effects of the AIDS crisis rippled the most. Imagine! The world of Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray takes an unusual spin.
This particular story is a true one of Colorado native Scott Harrison. It is his Carousel of Happiness. The beginning of the tale starts in his days as a Vietnam Marine vet. As many soldiers carry charms or keepsakes to give them solace during their dark journeys, his was not the usual photograph or letter. For Scott it was a small music box that played Chopin's "Tristesse." He carried it with him through his bleakest days and said that it took him to a beautiful place in the mountains where a carousel was spinning. Harrison was one of the fortunate who managed to survive those jungles, yet brought home many of those same horrible visions.
