After 14 years in severe chronic pain that restricted movement, digestion, speech and breathing, and one year of remarkable steady recovery, Kirk (truly a guitar god) picked up his guitar for the first time in 7 years in June, began performing for a small group in August, and has his first gig, opening for another band.   He’s not “totally healed” - he still can’t take weight properly through his right foot or hip, so he’s still on crutches, but relative to where he was…

(Where he was, his family found bountiful life within his lying down, but still this feels like a resurrection.  Kirk & his mom Carlynn are featured in the stage show about caregiving “Heal Thyself”, and the upcoming documentary possibly called “Is there Life within Caregiving?”, along with Christine & her son Jonathon, who play with Alzheimer’s.)

Should this give you hope?

Hope is dangerous.

Hope can give us courage to continue, but can also blind us to the present.   When we stopped trying to fix, to finish, to get out of the present, we were able to enjoy each other.  According to one theory, only then did the conditions for life emerge, and healing happen.  Advice usually irks me, and caregiving is too complex to pack wisdom into bite-sized advice, but for here and now, try this: Let your hope make you more present.

What do you think?

Kirk’s gig:
Sat. Sept 26,
8:15pm-9:15pm. (8:30 start)
961 College St. West  (map)
Facebook event

God is in the details: Perfect space-timing, as a squirrel investigates a noisy time-delay camera. Did you see James Stewart in “Harvey”? His imaginary giant-rabbit-friend opened me to imagine God. ‘He’ is with you - made manifest in this photo.

Photo by Melissa Brandts and husband, submitted to and copyright National Geographic.

I feel like it’s the year 33 A.D. I feel like Jesus’ disciples - if they had hoped for what might happen on the 3rd day.

Aye - there’s the rub:

Except for a single concert in September 2001 to launch his last album Invincible, and a 9/11 charity concert in October 2001, Jacko has been pretty much dead since the 1996-1997 HIStory World Tour (when he performed 82 concerts in 58 cities in 35 countries in 5 continents to over 4.5 million fans), and he had a RESURRECTION SCHEDULED for July 13 - the first of 50 sold-out concerts in London.

Resurrection canceled due to death.

May the King of Pop find comfort and glory with the King of Kings.

May Farrah, the Catholic poster girl of poster girls, and all the people killed in the crackdown in Iran, find there is some kind of good God. And may I be at peace with the possibility that what you see is what you get.

Final Public Appearance (I think)
The 3-minute video is long due to cheers, so not exciting, except to see that he is:
looking good, sounding healthy

Tell me it’s a publicity stunt.

In the hours following Jackson’s death, his record sales increased dramatically. His seminal album Thriller climbed to number one on the American iTunes music chart.[171] In the UK, where Jackson would have performed less than three weeks after his death, his albums occupied 14 of the top 20 places on the Amazon.co.uk sales chart with Off The Wall topping the chart.

While working intensely on our documentary etc., we have done zero marketing, but happily the Alberta Caregivers Association found us.

Here’s our new Promo video about the stage show (3 minutes) + profiles of our caregiving families (4 minutes).

Alberta Caregivers Association:
If you are a family caregiver and you need information or support, we are here to help you!
Call 780-453-5088 or toll free 1-877-453-5088, or email:
karen ”at” AlbertaCaregiversAssociation.org

“I did not expect this… heartbreaking… uplifting … It is really about all of us.” 4.5 stars - Edmonton Journal

“Life at its most naked,
…. the actors escape gravity.”
- SEE Magazine

Jonathon cares for a mother with Alzheimer’s, and, he believes, a bad attitude. Full of hope, he tries to inspire her to get off the couch and join him in ecological action. When a caregiver does everything right, but still everything is wrong, what can he do with repressed rage?
Carlynn cares for a son with inexplicable crippling pain.
When completely-debilitating pain hasn’t been cured after 12 years,
what can a family do?
Struggling to transform their desperate homes, to their families they propose: “Let’s do a project together, where the project is a play, and the play is about us.”

The result is explosive drama, surprising humour, startling visuals, and breathtaking dance - a strange and stunning tapestry of hope.

Heal Thyself sincerely tests the idea that caregiving can be rewarding, and healing.

The event includes the drama/dance show, and excerpts from the film documentary.

“Heavy subject … Light and entertaining … Powerful” - VUE Weekly

More Reviews:    www.imagiscape.ca/reviews  !!!

Imagiscape Theatre:   stage shows … workshops … documentary.   www.imagiscape.ca

Understandably, neither Youtube nor Wordpress will let me post my full tag list of keywords directly pertinent to this post:

caregiver, caregiving, Alberta, Imagiscape, theatre, wheelchair accessible, alzheimer’s, alzheimers, chronic, pain, depression, undiagnosed, diagnosis, caregiver burn-out, fatigue, Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, MSBP, conversion disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, bedside manner, patient interviewing skills, mental health, mental illness, health, illness, brain, injury, trauma, grief, disAbility, disabled, fun, play, love, behavioural, delusions, PSW, home-help, family, dynamics, therapy, systems, change, systems thinking, loss, anger, anger management, rage, violence, frustration, tension, healing, relationships, research, innovation, experiments, honesty, conversation, health care, home care, doctors, nurses, neurology, pharmacology, psychology, psychiatry, neurogenesis, rehabilitation, physical, holistic, spirit, arts, creative, hope, drama, dramatic, humor, Abilities, diversity, respite, retreat, conflict, peace, unspoken, open, free, freedom, discovery, courage, compassion, empathy, AGM, conference, supplemental health care, meditation, hate, fears, medical, comedy, heal thyself, emotions, performance, event, entertainment, education, engaging, mind-body medicine, faith, faith healing, God, CCAC, hospital, long term care, recovery, addiction, shame, guilt, embarassment, failure, loser, identity, script, life script, life story, energy medicine, support, cure, treatment, aging, adult diapers, cataracts, heart, surgery, hearing loss, hearing aids, documentary, workshops, corporate, human resources, training, guidance, counselling, compassionate leave, flex-time, work-life balance, massage, reiki, yoga, tai chi, Mary Poppins, Enchanted, Away from Her, Sarah Polley, The Bear Came Over the Mountain, Alice Munro, The Memory Artists, Jeffrey Moore, Stroke of Insight, Jill Taylor, Past Perfect, Daniel MacIvor, Stranger than Fiction, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, The Notebook, Hamlet, In America, Stage Beauty, Sweet Charity, Life is Beautiful, Life as a House, The Matrix, Terms of Endearment, V for Vendetta, One True Thing, Being There, Stranger than Fiction, 50 First Dates, My Left Foot, Dominic and Eugene, Rain Man, 12 Angry Men, Garden State, What Dreams May Come, The Mask, Todo Sobre Mi Madre (All About My Mother), Mr Holland’s Opus, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Evan Almighty, Punch-Drunk Love, 21 Grams, Click, The Exorcist, Galaxy Quest, Monster, Secrets & Lies, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich, After Thomas, Coming Down the Mountain, Even Pigeons Go to Heaven, Finding Neverland, Bridge to Terabithia, Seabiscuit, Don Juan deMarco, The Station Agent, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, prejudice, freak show, seniors, clinics, Florence Nightingale, Mother Teresa, contact improv, contact dance, improv theatre, improvisation, ayurvedic, cerebral, amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus, cortex, nervous system, nervous, atrophy, dystrophy, dysfunctional habits, friendship, mother, son, father, daughter, husband, wife,  sister, brother, grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, charity, caritas, philanthropy, generosity, abundance, scarcity, perception, attitude, disease, numb, resentment, regret, stress, and relaxation.

Variations (different spellings, word endings and word combinations):
nursing, mental health, mental illness, heal thyself, medicine, emotional, emotional intelligence, EQ, spiritual, humour, special event,  caregivers, depressed, burn-out, arts in health care, counsellor, Radical Honesty, mis-diagnosis, home-care, chronic stress, behaviour, chronic fatigue, systemic, family systems therapy, family systems, healing arts, and personal support worker.

I could add:
muscular dystrophy, autism, schizophrenia, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, shingles, psoriasis, dermatitis, liver disease, diabetes, dialysis, victim, survivor, bizarre, imagination, psychosis, fantasy, dreams, confusing, disorientation, ADD, ADHD, rare diseases, cancer, cardiac, pulmonary, post-op, heart attack, ALS, stroke, emphysema, lung, phantom limb, MRI, fMRI, glaucoma, Munchausen, displacement, shock, spine, spinal cord, damage, chiropractic, chiropractor, private health care, mystery, death, investigation, imago, imago therapy, imago arts, Lourdes, Jesus, Christ, St. Dymphna, Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Agatha, St. Peregrine, St. John of God, St. Catherine of Sweden, St. Andrew Avellino, St. Rita, isee systems, ithink, stella, modeling, variables, what-if scenarios, possibilities, options, choices, decisions, disappointment, Seasonal Affective Disorder, diet, junk food, pornography, video games, television, judgment, tranquility, TJ Dawe, Randy Rutherford, William Paul Young, The Shack, Dora Awards, Fringe, Summerworks, Festival, Broadway, Off-Broadway.

I wrote to Nina Davenport:

Your documentary is a mighty gift for Muthana. Has he seen it?  I imagine him showing it in conjunction with his own follow-up documentary, perhaps where we see him transformed by having seen your documentary.

You showed his beauty and his promise along with his flaws - he could ride this to success as a director or actor.  He could ride it to happiness as a store clerk or janitor - or as a leader or counsellor healing hearts in Iraq, Israel, and America, in part by presenting Operation Filmmaker: a mirror that’s so revealing anyone who looks into finds themselves transformed while they watch.

Jonathon
Theatre Artist and now Documentary Filmmaker
(editing 98 hours of footage, with partners)
Toronto

———–
Website:   www.OperationFilmmaker.com

———–
Hey Muthana - do you read me?
———–

In the words of Barack Obama:

…

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them— that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works. … Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. …

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control ….

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man. … Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
…

With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself….

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

…

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. … [T]here is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

…

- Excerpts from Inauguration Speech, January 20, 2009

————————————————-

(The other greatest moment, for me, was Rick Warren’s Prayer.)

While Momma read and sang carols this morning, the Holy Spirit took root.

She hopes her friends will be able to help her with “the new born baby inside” of her.

With God all things are possible!
(Who am I to deny it?)

Despite her 10 years of Alzheimer’s, Mom still learns new tricks (new melodies, new lyrics, new routines), so I’m curious to see if her revelation is forgotten, or if it … grows.

I’m almost Conservative. I want a government that is rational and pragmatic. While other parties bluster about, I want the adult party that gets on with the business of running a country. Alas, the Conservatives are not that party - they are not rational, they are ideological.

Harper Abdicates Power

Harper vows to not run a deficit even in a recession. If you can find an economist or an educated business person who thinks that is smart, you have earned a new job: find Bin Laden. The Globe & Mail’s Report on Business ran ‘The Depression’s History Lessons’, an article which includes: “Jeff Rubin, the chief economist of CIBC World Markets, thinks Canadian politicians have forgotten what governments are meant to do in a recession” and points out that even free-market ideologue Milton Friedman believes government should run deficits during recessions. (Why? Increased government spending makes up for decreased producer-and-consumer spending, and gets the economy out of recession sooner.)

Financial Market Fraud - It’s Not Illegal if there are no Laws!

Even free-market economists think the market needs government to set the rules so that the free market will work for good.

Harper, however, saw no problem in the conflict of interest that let credit-rating agencies profit from sales of investments it rated, which lead to the triple-A rating of an investment product (asset backed commercial paper, or ABCP) which American agencies like Standard & Poor’s refused to rate because the product contained a loophole wherein something that called itself a guarantee was not a guarantee. Indeed 4 of the 5 Canadian banks refused to honour the guarantee when the investments were wiped out in August 2007.

These were investors who had sought a safe investment (AAA-rating!), and were told these were as safe as GICs - some sellers’ literature even called ABCP safer than GICs.

To be fair, I am not sure Harper knew about these dangers. Perhaps that can be his defence.

A Green Shift is a Free Market Fan’s Dream Come True

Fans of the Free Market praise prices for containing [all] the information people need to make right choices. ‘You don’t need to know how pencils are made, you just need to know they cost 30 cents.’ The one major flaw they acknowledge is ‘externalities’ - costs and benefits that aren’t reflected by prices. These cause incentives to produce and consume more than the socially optimal amounts of some things, and less than the socially optimal amounts of others. They call these flaws ‘market failures’. So why are Conservatives opposing Green Shift plans? The Liberal and Green Party Green Shift plans bring prices to reflect true costs, while shifting taxes from the things we want (jobs) to things we don’t want (pollution).

Environment OR Economy?

The Conservative Party of Canada pits economy vs environment. When they aren’t saying we have to choose economy or environment, the best they offer is a lukewarm compromise. Nowhere in their platform or in speeches by Harper or his Ministers have we heard anything that suggests they even have the conceptual capacity to understand the ‘green’ argument: the economy and environment are not only intertwined, but ecological economies are the most efficient and productive economies - not to mention that they are also the most intelligent and healthy and enjoyable.

Frankly, I don’t think most Liberals or NDP candidates can see this truth either.

In a public forum on TVO’s The Agenda live from the Munk Centre, the Liberal panelist tried to sound reassuring by saying “we don’t need to change our way of life”, with no consciousness that becoming ecological can beget a richer life.

Most people know the basic level of this argument - if you bike instead of drive, and walk instead of watching TV, you will be physically and mentally healthier - but it’s much greater than that.

Becoming ecological, you develop the business skills of operations management as you become a channel for Creation, where everything you consume is directed towards growth - global growth. To instantly enrich your world and get out of your petty personal concerns, take ownership of the entire world - identify as the whole world.

Becoming ecological, you perceive and experience your house as a flowing system, within the larger flowing system of your personally inhabited world, within the larger flowing system of the globe (and any other level you wish to look at).

It’s more fun to create than consume; it’s more fun to make life than take life.

An ecological economy is not a no-growth economy. To put it simply, if you grow in quality, you grow in value.

Harper - Leftover Thoughts

I’m not impressed that Harper:
- did not reveal his party’s platform until one week before the election.
- rarely makes himself available to answer reporters’ questions
- tightly controls any meetings he does have with media
- did not respond to “numerous requests for information from environmental organizations, including a request from 11 of Canada’s largest environmental organizations that garnered responses from each of the other major party leaders.”

The Answer?

CBC and CTV announce: The Green Party Won

I had been disappointed that Elizabeth May made the Green Party a left wing party. Previously it transcended the left-right spectrum. (Many left-right conflicts dissolve when you approach a problem with an ecological perspective.) Then came The Federal Leadership Debate.

On CBC’s The National with Peter Mansbridge, both Allan Gregg and Andrew Coyne (2 of the 3 members of the “At Issue” Panel) said Elizabeth May won. CTV’s Mike Duffy said the same thing. Indeed I was highly, deeply and thoroughly impressed.

Recently, May advised people that if they are in an electoral district where strategic voting could result in a Liberal or NDP or Green win instead of a Conservative win, the true Green vote may require sacrificing the Green Party to stop Harper. (On the other hand, every vote helps the Greens’ finances (Elections Canada pays $1.80 or so per vote), and every vote helps the Greens’ perceived viability as a winnable party, and the sooner Green replaces Liberal as the central party, the better.)

Is your riding one where you should vote strategically? You can see your riding’s polls - in many cases 4 per day for every day of the election campaign, by Decima, Leger, Ekos, Nanos, and other major pollsters - at www.VoteForEnvironment.ca. Just enter your postal code, or click on the map.

I like their motto: Vote Smart so the Majority Wins.

Are you as amazed by the numbers as I am?

In Ottawa South, if 550 of the 16000 voters who plan to vote NDP, Green or Other instead vote Liberal, the Liberals will win.

The website has spreadsheets showing which ridings could be most affected by split voting or strategic voting, and a brief editorial on each riding.

In Mississauga the 2nd place team (Liberals) need 1600 of the 12000 NDP and Green voters to vote strategically.

We have not yet attained proportional representation, but we don’t need to ‘unite the left’ and collapse into a 2-party system. The issues require more subtlety than a 2-tone debate, and as people become familiar with internet services like VoteForEnvironment.ca and the Vote Swapping Facebook group, we may attain a system that actually merits the name democracy.

Caregiving Policy

P.S. The website of the Canadian Caregiver Coalition presents a policy proposal to the political parties, but it does not compare the parties’ platforms or critique any single platform. It also does not rank parties or candidates in terms of who we should vote for if we want a parliament that cares about caregiving.