Good Home for Friend Moments

Dear Beloved Blog Readers,

Hope your summer is being radiant.

I have made a new friend and he has a communication disability too. One good thing about difference is that when you discover someone who shares one with you it’s very wonderful. I and he had a great talk last week and the day was full of wonder.

Now first I must explain to you that Stuart is Deaf and yet has awesome skills for talking with and understanding “hearing” people. I think he is also a hugely smart person.

I drove up to the Northeast Kingdom with Emily and Brian to find him on the piece of land he farms on. It was downright delightful to spend time on the land he loves, eat really fun good food he prepared and talk and sit on the little bridge above the babbling brook he loves so much.

In a previous blog posting I had asked people for additions to my metaphor list.

Stuart had specifically invited me to his land to see his garden and the weeds gloriously growing all around it. “Ah” he said while we sat by the water “I think we so much are like weeds and normal folks are like cultivated plants.” He showed us a book called The Wild Wisdom of Weeds. In it the author talks about the amazing benefits of 13 very common weeds.

Oh, I think it’s healthy for us all to validate our inner weed.

Please really love yourself from the inside out.

I applaud your efforts so far.

Be great.

Fondly,

Mark

The Wise Weed in a Wise Meadow

The Honest Work for Justice

I am totally excited to tell you, Dear Blog Readers, that I was at my Supported Typing group this past month and I had a great topic to propose to the group. I wanted to know what they would suggest as a good movie to see that shows someone overcoming obstacles.

We who use this form of communication are still attacked often by hearing that there are many who find that there is not enough evidence to prove it is effective. I so hurt to see Tracy Thresher at the last State Standing Committee on Developmental Services when the issue of research based findings was discussed again.

He has been promoting this form of communication for over four years touring with the documentary he stars in; Wretches and Jabberers. I am so tired that this discussion keeps getting brought back up as I feel so many of us are living examples of what this form of communication does to release our minds.

I have just returned from a week at summer camp. You know this is not a holiday for me because I am eager to interact with people’s minds and I have to rely on smiling, blinking and hand gestures as my form of communication. Luckily some of the counselors at camp have seen my movie or read my blog so they know a lot more about my intelligence.

So at the Supported Typing group long-time typer and Tracy’s co-star Larry Bissonnette suggested I watch the movie Selma and I did last night.

Oh what a rough experience that was. It is a reminder that people can make huge ugly assumptions about others and let those dictate their actions.

Let us keep typing our voices and overcome these obstacles.

I hope you soaked up the good sun of the weekend.

Be well and be kind.

Mark

The Nice Mountain Climber

The Work is Now in Our Hands, Let’s Do It!

Dear Beloved Good Blog Readers,

Really great to be back before your eyes so soon again.

I left you with the task of coming up with a metaphor to guide us through the strange place that those of us in human services find ourselves these days.

People in positions of power have to make decisions that don’t make it easy for people like me to really explore who we are and what we have to give the world. Everyone has something yet our very over commercialized culture teaches us to want what we don’t have. I am afraid this makes us not care for ourselves. The people in power hoard resources and justify taking them from people they can easily brush off as inferior because they value life so unhealthily.

I am being super intense but I know my growing voice is needed.
My current easy task is to love now the great beautiful soul I am.

I dare you to welcome in your outer loveliness.

Until next time keep pausing for delightful moments.

Fondly,

Mark

Great Soap Box Orator in the Making