Bi-Polar Comedy at TED

Mental dis-ease continues its slow walk out of the closet.

Tags: Self-Help Mental Illness Depression

Survivor Radio cafe

Folks are doing lots of things these days via multi-media to get the word out about how to thrive.

Survivor Radio cafe is just one.

This internet radio show features a LOT of artists, writers, musicians, who healed by creating, by telling their stories.

Watched a documentary about Harvey Milk last night. One of Milk's speeches gave me pause. He said that every gay person had to come out of the closet.

I'm just saying...

What if every survivor of violence came out of the closet?

Tags: Self-Help Art Depression

"Human Land Mine" :: Sunstroke :: Nathaniel's, Greensburg, PA

.:. Winner .:.

That's my old pal, business partner, & collaborator Phil Platten on bass and vox.

A delight to revisit our collaborative work. We were called "Sunstroke" after a contest to name the band brought forth a few barely mentionable names. Gosh, something like "....Beaver Twins". Does anyone recall the third-place entry?

Would not have broached the material but for the fact that Phil moved on a year ago this month. And but for the fact that another bass player with whom I had a band also took flight.

[I could not bring myself to say that Phil and Dick expired the first or second draft of this post. Dare I say it now...but 'moving on' and 'taking flight' are two terms that seem correct for what happened to them.]

Dick Bungo: a consummate musician tho I don't remember him being in any of the bands, singing groups or orchestras in high school. Not much of a 'joiner' our Dick. Neither have I turned out to be.

This can only be considered a first draft of the video of the piece, for I will want it as part of the soundtrack for "The World's Longest Open Love Letter".

The lyrics remind me where was emotionally in December of 1980, when this was recorded. Can't yet quite get my mind around it but in the editing -- in the meditation that is editing -- am certain all will become quickly clear.

Miss my old friend, roommate and Nathaniel's owner Dave Clark. Where are ya, Dave?

The full performance from that night may be found HERE for download.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)

Tags: music, phil platten, jan mclaughlin, sunstroke, greensburg, pennsylvania, pa, nathaniels, dave clark, wloll

On Depression, Hope, Recovery, Psychology & Antidepressants

.:. Survivor .:.

Be My Friend - http://www.myspace.com/psychtruth On Depression, Hope, Recovery, Psychology & Antidepressants Dr. John Breeding, Ph.D. Psychologist discusses how to help people with mental health problems and psychological issues w/out buying into the biological psychiatry approach that a person has an incurable mental illness or mental disorder. Coalition for the Abolition of Electroshock in Texas http://www.endofshock.com/ This video was edited by Psychetruth. http://www.youtube.com/psychetruth http://www.myspace.com/psychtruth PsycheTruth is empowered by TubeMogul http://www.tubemogul.com Copyright 2008 CAEST. All Rights Reserved. This video may be displayed in public, copied and redistributed for any strictly non-commercial use in its entire unedited form. Alteration or commercial use is strictly prohibited.  

Formats available: Microsoft Video (.avi), Flash Video (.flv)

Tags: depression, hope, recovery, psychology, antidepressants, mental, health, psychiatry, illness, disorder, help, electroshock

Feeders for Human Birds :: a page from The World's Longest Open Love Letter

.:. Survivor .:.

In preparation for the Faux Parade. With Cosmic Ray.

Part of a very long meditation on the nature of love.

One of the things I love about making art in the physical world (as opposed to the digital realm) is that is creates an 'open space' in my brain for listening to what my body and soul already know.

A wise friend once told me that, "You already know all the answers. Just listen."

Making art is an indirect way to open your ears.

It also helps me breathe.

G'head.

Make a drawing right now.

A 30-second self-portrait. Even if you just draw it in the air or sand.

Pay attention to your breath as you do this.

Cool.

Formats available: MPEG1 Video (.mpg), Flash Video (.flv)

Tags: faux_press, human birds, cosmic ray, wloll, worlds longest open love letter

Tip :: Keep a Sense of Humor

Okay. Laughing helps.

Yes, it does.

Tags: Self-Help Art Depression

New York Breakfast :: Twitter :: Strategies for Nourishment

New York Breakfast
Originally uploaded by Jannie-Jan

Positive reinforcement to eat well :: make media.

Documenting and sharing the process of being good to myself by means of sustenance helps me feel less isolated.

What do YOU do to counteract isolation?

What do YOU do to help yourself eat?

My reward is art & the hope that this sharing inspires someone else in the moment who might not otherwise eat a good meal.

When folks post what they're having to eat on Twitter I'm reminded that food must be taken.

Documenting a healing strategy that works for me.

A strategy made possible by 0's and 1's and ubiquitous media making tools and communications software.

I need the reinforcement in the moment - not in four hours when I'm famished & too depleted to cook - and manage in this way to get it.

Twitter reminds me to eat.

Documenting the process and inspiring others to be good to themselves are the rewards.

Why Film Making? :: Anti-Isolation Device :: Motivation

Film making as anti-isolation device - weddings & weldings - parades - faux parade - hungry march band - brooklyn - get a hobby - when I lose heart - robert croma - dannypayne - media ripples - getting it out in music - vote of confidence - the cost of truth - painting on big canvases.

Mobile post sent by Jan / The Faux Press using Utterz. Replies. mp3

Behavior Modification :: Reward

.:. Survivor .:.

You are what you consume.

And that includes music and motion pictures as well as food.

A simple plan: consume more of that which you wish to become.

Take stock of what you've been consuming to know what you've unconsciously decided to become.

That which you consume is that upon which you meditate.

Just a thought.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)

Tags: surviving, violence, abuse, childhood, sexual, strategies, behavior, modification, art, performance, wloll

Re-Vlog :: Love Medicine

Ms. Sanders speaks succinctly & softly to wounds and healing through art & consciousness.

Difficult to visualize the body as sacred.

Orgasm as sacred.

Whew.

Working on a video art piece that deals with body image and will post tomorrow.

SPOILER: In the meantime, if you're squicked by gentle, soothing words on the subject of the body, you should not play this fine piece.

Ancient wisdom.


Tags: Self-Help Art Depression

Birds in Distress :: Know the Signs

.:. Survivor .:.

A public service message from The Faux Press.

What do humans in distress sound like?

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)

Tags: bird, distress, signs, birdsong, politics, metaphrasty, faux_press, activism

The Faux Press :: Work Hard

.:. Survivor .:.

I always need reminders.

How about you?

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v), Flash Video (.flv)

Tags: commercial, vlogvertising, bumper, promo, jan, mclaughlin

CBT :: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

A great podcast on the subject of CBT with host Michael Krasny and his guests:

• Judith Beck, director of the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research, clinical associate professor of psychology in psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania [website]
  
• Michael Tompkins, psychologist; member of the San Francisco Bay Area Center for Cognitive Therapy; founding fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy; and assistant clinical professor at UC-Berkeley [website]
  

CBT was the first therapy I ever had. It's left lasting effects and impressions. That was back in 1985.

One question the therapist asked that returns even today in crisis is this:

"What's the worst that could happen?"

The followup to the question is a realistic examination of the possibility of the worst possible outcome.

Surprising to hear is that there aren't many therapists practicing CBT in America. Jeeze. Why not?


Tags: Self-Help Art Depression

Documenting Depression :: CAUTION :: ONE S*XUAL IMAGE

Click to Play

CAUTION: about a minute in there's a kinda s*xual image. You might want to close your eyes if you're feeling raw.

I can usually pump out videos pretty darned quick. This one took a long time. It's not perfect. It feels dangerous.

Based on previous experience, seeing how whiney and pathetic I am when in the throes of depression will eventually help me understand its mechanics better.

I have a long-term documentary video project that I'm hoping this web site and the community that grows around it will help me finish. It's called "The World's Longest Open Love Letter" and was in its earliest states, a series of meditations on anger, then love, and now, on action.

Creating the "Anger" painting below opened me up to the possibility that art could help me heal.

Subscribers and visitors to this site as witnesses to the process of healing. Witnesses healed and grown by virtue of the gift of granting forgiveness to the innocent.

Lots of books, plays & films have been released in the last few years on the subject of the sexual exploitation of children by adults. I've already collected them and will share links to all of them here.

My "World's Longest Open Love Letter" project will be a day late and ten cents short, but the point is to make it. The point is the process of making it.

Wish me luck.

Quicktime Download

Painting as Meditation :: Self-Portraits

"Self-portrait with Scanner", digital image, 2000

This is not a painting, but a self-portrait with hand-held scanner. As usual, was just playing around with a newly-discovered tool, but in making this self-portrait there came a moment when I understood it to be an important part of the healing process.

The underlying question to answer is this: how do you see yourself?

[Image Source]

Learned the import of that question from sculptor Petah Coyne.

My then-shrink had asked me what I looked like inside. I'd no answer.

Shortly thereafter I had occasion to see a collection of Ms. Coyne's work at the Norton Gallery of Art in West Palm Beach. Her sculptures of tar, razor wire and straw represented precisely my image of self.

Needless to say, it came as a kind of revelation that I thought of myself in that dark way.

No way to change something you're not conscious of.

Consciousness of self-image is an early step toward changing it.

How do YOU see yourself?

Thanks, Petah.

[Petah Coyne BIO]
[Coyne Exhibit]

Tags: Self-Help Art Depression

Documenting Depression :: The Web Cam IS / IS NOT Your Friend

Click to Play

I can usually pump out videos pretty darned quick. This one took a long time. It's not perfect. To me, it feels dangerous.

Based on previous experience, seeing how whiney and pathetic I am when in the throes of depression will eventually help me understand its mechanics better.

I have a long-term documentary video project that I'm hoping this web site and the community that grows around it will help me finish. It's called "The World's Longest Open Love Letter" and was in its earliest states, a series of meditations on anger, then love, and now, on action.

Creating the "Anger" painting below opened me up to the possibility that art could help me heal.

Subscribers and visitors to this site as witnesses to the process of healing. Witnesses healed and grown by virtue of the gift of granting forgiveness to the innocent.

Lots of books, plays & films have been released in the last few years on the subject of the sexual exploitation of children by adults. I've already collected them and will share links to all of them here.

My "World's Longest Open Love Letter" project will be a day late and ten cents short, but the point is to make it. The point is the process of making it.

Wish me luck.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv)

Tags: depression, healing, post traumatic stress, behavior modification, self-help, art, surviving

Anger :: Rage :: Tips & Tricks

Take note of the what's, when's, who's and how's of your anger. Keep at least a mental Anger Diary and come to understand its mechanisms.

What I learned in keeping conscious track, was that anger is a simply a red flag, an indicator that there's something of importance going on that requires deep attention.

It helps to remember that anger - like all emotions - is a cloud that will pass away, and does not reflect much truth about reality except how I feel about it.

The image above is my first painting. Ever.

Painting the word helped me focus on it and begin to develop a strategy toward managing it.

More difficult, was the previous exercise of coming to grips with the fact that I was one angry human being. But that's another post.