“Once more unto the breach dear friends once more” yes i know no-one really said those exact words but the ability to inspire people to risk life and limb does illustrate the power of rhetoric to make things happen. The counterpoint to this is of course without the right language to help formulate the intent then we can find ourselves in a state of inactivity such as depression, languor, melancholia and the like.
Discussions around the appropriateness of language often have at its heart the fear that the language will have a negative effect on the cause that you are hoping to promote. We had a few of these within the Liverpool mental Health consortium recently when we decided on a high profile awareness raising event as part of a music and arts event in the city called Threshold. The suggestion that we should call it Mad Pride was put forward. It was generally agreed to be good idea but there were also a few nay-sayers around as well. Should we be celebrating madness was there concern.
I can relate to the concern and fear around identifying with those who are mentally ill. For many years I was incredibly anxious to keep some of my dark periods to myself, to me depression was a dead end, somewhere to escape from. The less said about it the better. I also found that many people in my immediate circle were content to hold this line and better to focus on the task in hand which was to make ends meet, hold down a job, be a responsible parent, employee, son, partner.
What I eventually discovered was that my way out of the dark place was anything but straightforward. That grit and determination could only contribute so much to the solution. In my mid forties i eventually ground to a halt so much that i began to embody words like depression, I felt completely squashed, compressed and without the energy to push back. My turning point was in meeting up with others who were on this journey too. Through facilitated group at the PSS Umbrella centre I began to reconnect with people again; that they had been written off as mad at this point was the least of my concerns. Through these relationships with fellow service users and staff that I began to de-construct the assumptions and definitions that I held about lots of subjects. I began to be playful and creative again during this period, with words, pictures, actions. All this didn't happen over night, is still a work in progress in fact, but in the course of which I began to become better acquainted with myself again. I could give myself a good talking to without resorting to tired old mantras. I was also mixing with lots of thoughtful and creative people and the adventures into new and different environments were ones that I could reflect on afterwards in good company.
So when it came to Mad Pride, Liverpool's first, my best idea for the event was to dress up as a dog, and why not? I have done lots of daft things in recent years, this includes dressing up as a goblin, a woodland sprite, standing on a chair reciting Dylan Thomas to name but a few and the sky hasn’t fallen on me yet, so why not a dog. I was happy enough to concentrate on my bit of the Mad-Pie and leave others to express Mad Pride in their own way. I wasn’t disappointed and on the day itself there were a myriad of expressions of Madness throughout the day that ran from 3 in the afternoon till 11 at night. High lights for me where a guy wrestling with his teddy bear dressed as Brazilian wrestler and the hat with a glitter ball on top worn by Colonel Mustard, a fantastic band from Glasgow who kicked off the day. I am sure everyone will have taken away a different highlight and that is fine by me, what ever floats your boat. There was also a parade in the evening where people were invited to join us and we danced to the Samba rhythms of Katumba for 45 minutes. We also had Bring the Fire Project lighting up the dark through-out with a mix of circus skills and fire dancing. There was a short video that I have seen that illustrates the parade pretty well and if you look very carefully you can see a figure sporting a quite striking pair of ears shoot in and out of shot, this is my Hitchcock moment!
But some people will be like I used to be, and just wont get it-its sad but in time I intend to be helping to push the Mad Pride vibe to a bigger and bigger audience. And who knows, in time, it might prompt a rethink........ viva the revolution!
Discussions around the appropriateness of language often have at its heart the fear that the language will have a negative effect on the cause that you are hoping to promote. We had a few of these within the Liverpool mental Health consortium recently when we decided on a high profile awareness raising event as part of a music and arts event in the city called Threshold. The suggestion that we should call it Mad Pride was put forward. It was generally agreed to be good idea but there were also a few nay-sayers around as well. Should we be celebrating madness was there concern.
I can relate to the concern and fear around identifying with those who are mentally ill. For many years I was incredibly anxious to keep some of my dark periods to myself, to me depression was a dead end, somewhere to escape from. The less said about it the better. I also found that many people in my immediate circle were content to hold this line and better to focus on the task in hand which was to make ends meet, hold down a job, be a responsible parent, employee, son, partner.
What I eventually discovered was that my way out of the dark place was anything but straightforward. That grit and determination could only contribute so much to the solution. In my mid forties i eventually ground to a halt so much that i began to embody words like depression, I felt completely squashed, compressed and without the energy to push back. My turning point was in meeting up with others who were on this journey too. Through facilitated group at the PSS Umbrella centre I began to reconnect with people again; that they had been written off as mad at this point was the least of my concerns. Through these relationships with fellow service users and staff that I began to de-construct the assumptions and definitions that I held about lots of subjects. I began to be playful and creative again during this period, with words, pictures, actions. All this didn't happen over night, is still a work in progress in fact, but in the course of which I began to become better acquainted with myself again. I could give myself a good talking to without resorting to tired old mantras. I was also mixing with lots of thoughtful and creative people and the adventures into new and different environments were ones that I could reflect on afterwards in good company.
So when it came to Mad Pride, Liverpool's first, my best idea for the event was to dress up as a dog, and why not? I have done lots of daft things in recent years, this includes dressing up as a goblin, a woodland sprite, standing on a chair reciting Dylan Thomas to name but a few and the sky hasn’t fallen on me yet, so why not a dog. I was happy enough to concentrate on my bit of the Mad-Pie and leave others to express Mad Pride in their own way. I wasn’t disappointed and on the day itself there were a myriad of expressions of Madness throughout the day that ran from 3 in the afternoon till 11 at night. High lights for me where a guy wrestling with his teddy bear dressed as Brazilian wrestler and the hat with a glitter ball on top worn by Colonel Mustard, a fantastic band from Glasgow who kicked off the day. I am sure everyone will have taken away a different highlight and that is fine by me, what ever floats your boat. There was also a parade in the evening where people were invited to join us and we danced to the Samba rhythms of Katumba for 45 minutes. We also had Bring the Fire Project lighting up the dark through-out with a mix of circus skills and fire dancing. There was a short video that I have seen that illustrates the parade pretty well and if you look very carefully you can see a figure sporting a quite striking pair of ears shoot in and out of shot, this is my Hitchcock moment!
But some people will be like I used to be, and just wont get it-its sad but in time I intend to be helping to push the Mad Pride vibe to a bigger and bigger audience. And who knows, in time, it might prompt a rethink........ viva the revolution!