Topside GF

My turn for a good long post

The board lives...it lives! Oop, I'm sorry, I mean the "blog." I first got into this sort of forum on a message board, so I tend to want to call it that. TSO, you should try to drag some more contributors onto here before you leave the farm.

Eye injuries are lame. I'm not in agony anymore, but I'm staggering around with one eye in focus and the other blurred, which is a sucky sort of experience. I helped lead worship at my church this morning, a nice happy bump in what has been a string of gloomy days. (Although at 7 this morning I woke up saying, "Noooo...fortheloveofGodnooo......" I don't do mornings well.)

At my high school reunion I ran into several folks in the medical profession who were very interested in hearing about the farm. They were especially intrigued with my pipe dream idea of starting one out west, and some of them promised to hook me up with experts in Northwestern mental health if I want to make new friends. Shrugging the mess with the administration, I believe I'm starting to talk about the farm with as much passion as I talk about beekeeping, writing, or travelling.

Here's a pondering. We all have some element of a mental illness to a certain extent, small though it may be. So which community would be better, the one where the staff openly reveals to the guests which tendencies they share, or the one where everything is downplayed as normal unless it interferes with everyday life? In the first, for instance, I could say I have a bit of OCD in the way I have to check something multiple times. In the second, I would say it's a quirk that should not even be mentioned. The first community could be more open or supportive in finding common ground, but might also risk falling into the label-game of psychology and the unnecessary sense that there's something wrong with everyone. The second community would be a bit more "suck it up and get over yourself" philosophy (which I like, since I think modern psychology tends to overdiagnose) but also runs the risk of making people feel they have to suppress something, or give them the idea that there is a "normality" that everyone but they can attain.

Does any of that make sense? I'm sorry, my coffee has run out and I'm not sure if I'm writing in complete sentences. Anyway, it's neither here nor there, just a brain exercise I've been amusing myself with.

Exciting news about your potential job offer, B-v. The cultural aspect would be really interesting as well. TSO, it sounds like the approach of fall is unsettling you. And yes, I would like to come play sardines and eat pizza, I'll just hop on my super-fast train and be over there in...oh, wait. No super-fast train. Oh well, I guess I'll just clutch at my eye and run around the house going "AAAAA!" instead.

posted by Kt @ 7:13 PM