creative forces

 Blog # 157...September, 2024

September is always a nostalgic time for me - the departure of summer and, my birthday starts another year in a long and full  life. When we think back on this summer Jasper has joined Lytton and  Fort McMurray in reminding me of the names of  battles, evoking human loss, devastation and also courage. Richard Ireland, mayor of Jasper who spoke with tears in his voice of supporting his fellow citizens as he viewed his own home utterly destroyed emerges as a hero.  I suspect there are many others.

Memories help us to make sense of the present and plan for the future, sometimes appearing unexpectedly.  Two books I've read recently, written by two people I know, have brought different eras into focus for me. 

David Goldbloom, a Toronto psychiatrist, was a colleague in the 80's and 90's at Toronto General Hospital. He' s followed How Can I Help? with We Can do Better. In the first book,  he traces a week in the life of a psychiatrist; in the second he explores innovations currently improving mental health access and care. Using a patient history to provide context for eight different mental illnesses, he outlines  an initiative already in place somewhere (almost always here in Canada) that is successfully tackling the problems. We see what is being dome as a plea for more.

As well as bringing me up to date after many years of being outside the field, We Can Do Better filled me with memories of the days I worked as an occupational   therapist on the inpatient unit at TGH.  I'm struck by the substantial changes in mental health delivery that began in  the mid eighties. Cognitive therapy is now universally accepted as an effective treatment. Cultural practices are recognized as integral to mental health rather than just exotic curiousities. And, there's a sense of collaboration between patient peer support groups and professionals, mostly replacing the hostility of the anti psychiatry movement..  We Can Do Better has lots about developments in genetic testing, helpful prompting apps, cognitive remediation, televideo assessment and treatment and online and telephone appointments. It's a very easy read if your interest is in mental health, and whose isn't?

 I met Sarah Cox for the first time in over 30 years at a launch for her first book in 2016. Breaking the Peace: The Site C Dam and a Valley's Stand Against Big Hydro tells how a small group of indigenous people and farmers fought against the mosi expensive hydro dam project in Canadian history. The eldest daughter of my longtime friend and neighbour Lynn Spink, Sarah is an environmental journalist in Victoria, writing for The Narwhal. Last year, she produced her second book Signs of Life: field notes from the Frontline of Extinction.

I was captivated in the first pages of Signs of Life when Sarah introduced me to the spotted owl, sadly gone now along with many of the old growth forests.  A number of other species of animals, as well as insects and plants, are vanishing yearly, others barely managing "to hang on by fin, hoof or claw". Sarah's lyrical prose makes this a wonderful, if distressing read. One recent winter morning I spotted a snowy owl perched on the eaves of the house across the laneway from mine. Although it was a thrill for me, it was also alarming to see it, probably chased there by development in its home territory .

David and Sarah don't know it but are one degree of separation away from each other. Another couple met for the first time on Variety Studios' Actors on Actors series. Ten years ago Pete Davidson, at 20, was one of the youngest ever cast members on Saturday Night Live. He told the story of losing his firefighter dad on 911 in The King  of Staten Island.  Glenn Close,77 now, delighted him and many other kids as Cruella in 101 Dalmations while horrifying the rest of us in Fatal Attraction. Their conversation (on YouTube) was warm, funny and unusual.

 In his conclusion, David Goldbloom says "Things that have caught my attention, aroused my curiousity have given me hope."  Thinking about and composing this blog every month does the same for me; We all do better with the energy of hope than the paralysis of despair. Thanks for tuning in, back in October. 

Oh wait, the dazzling opening ceremonies of the paralympics just began. Elite athletes, competing with impairments, stand out parallel to the games that just finished...equally compelling and also full of heroes!  I'm particularly moved by the appearance in the parade of countries with one athlete, attending for the first time. It speaks to immense efforts to make social and attitudinal change. That's all folks!