I M Perfect lady

Was it really just one week ago that I met David Cowardin and heard the about the documentary- "Call Me Mental"?  It has been a roller coaster week with journeys back to the past and dreams of the future, memories drug into the present and new thrills and possibilities.  The combination of mixing the old with the new the good with the bad, left my body in a state of contradiction.

Moments of fear tingling with terror slamming into excitement and choreographed magic.

The colliding of my past, present and future…and the feelings and emotions each carry.

Being pulled back and forth…and with new revelations.

It was to go on visual tour back; a life review but with the eyes of someone who sees…and a new friend who believed me.

Most often, it feels that I have to work really hard to articulate and prostrate, to explain the insanity…to make believable the unbelievable.  Trying to explain how what appears normal is actually insane.

What struck me to the core years ago was that I was seen as mental.

And, the drive in the old neighborhood, gave me the clear view of another girl who appears like me.  Who didn't have access to a photojournalist, who didn't have the books, the tools and the means to right her own mind; against the backdrop of insanity.

I know how it feels to be the lone voice of 'reason' and how they feel free to berate and dismiss my truths as evil remonstrations against 'good' folks and institutions.

The brilliance of this film are these daring free spirited, soul-full, kind photojournalists, who have taken on the stigma of the mental, is that they are willing see the world from the eyes of us "mental" folk.  

They are not interviewing the families or friends to show our insanity, but instead seeing our lives through our eyes. Seeing our experiences and how we came to be this way.

I see this project as being the tipping point to upend the 'normal' and show its ugly underbelly.

To see what sends us over the deep end.

It isn't our minds.

It isn't our experiences.

It IS the blind eyes upon evil that drive us nuts.

It is the dismissing of wrong doing.

It is not believing in the pattern and the gravity of its long reach.

The discounting of children's lives and their innocence…as they uphold the fake image of good of adults and churches, and who delete the actions upon children.

I love that this documentary is dancing on the lip of exposing the insanity that lives in the lives of the so called normal.

This so called normal is the good ole boys club phenomena…where we do what we do without question, just because it is what we were taught.  Not because it is right.

I see this documentary as furthering what I have come to believe…that we as society are in need of a great Ah Ha!  

Reactively we have stood by the institutions and the elders…without question or challenge.

"Call Me Mental" is the uprising of children against these old paradigms.

We know what doesn't work.  It is time for a change. I am proud to be part of the parade of children speaking out! 

My hats are off to the guys of Lola Visuals…may the power of the Universe lead us forward!  Giving us the platform for which we can shout…I no longer feel that my voice is just a whisper.

I hope my voice is clear and that it can articulate what those who went before me could not say!  I speak for those who have been silenced by a label "Mental".  

Call Me Mental, but I am no longer keeping the silence!  

Please show your support to us mental folks by going to "Call Me Mental" facebook page or to their site, and donate to the cause for breaking the stigma!  http://callmemental.com