tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post7008345022521362523..comments2023-12-27T22:26:20.552-05:00Comments on synch-ro-ni-zing: Bedlam: A fresh look at an old horrorRuthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-8407938786059394322011-11-10T07:39:06.607-05:002011-11-10T07:39:06.607-05:00Write as long as it takes, my friend, when you hav...Write as long as it takes, my friend, when you have something so stunning to share as these photos and the words behind them. You're right about mental illness. I have two family members who are affected -- they are functional, sometimes normal. Sometimes a little freaky. Seeing these photos makes me grateful that despite our challenges dealing with this issue as a society, that things are indeed better than bedlam. And the moonflowers are stunning. I was going to ask you where this is -- I was pleased to see Scene! Maybe Anno and I can get over there Saturday when she comes up for lunch! (Do you know former blogger Anno?)Jeaniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17482528482559445943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-57389442864523589642011-11-09T21:27:36.007-05:002011-11-09T21:27:36.007-05:00There is so much here that I don't know where ...There is so much here that I don't know where to start...so I will keep it simple and just say how amazing and talented your friends are. I am so in love with the Moonflower photos and the Bedlam photos...how I wish I could have been at that exhibit!<br /><br />And now I am going to go and listen to Dawn Upshaw.GailOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09556665956317683667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-42156448597841153182011-11-09T05:02:03.576-05:002011-11-09T05:02:03.576-05:00Dear Shaista, my friend. Of course it was you in m...Dear <b>Shaista</b>, my friend. Of course it was <i>you</i> in my word <i>lupus</i>, but thankfully that word and disorder do not contain you. <br /><br />I'll repeat my thanks here and will again at the Cambridge article post you've shared, for how you lighten up the darkness by sharing your beauty, from within the painful experience of your symptoms and medical treatment. Blessings xoxox.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-60473223051026815482011-11-09T04:57:21.006-05:002011-11-09T04:57:21.006-05:00Thank you, Amy! Your good comment reminds me of th...Thank you, <b>Amy</b>! Your good comment reminds me of that dreaded etymological link between the Latin word for <i>womb</i> and <i>hysteria</i>.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-89583409311431459642011-11-09T04:53:58.206-05:002011-11-09T04:53:58.206-05:00Oh Mary, I admire you and your 36 years! To come a...Oh <b>Mary</b>, I admire you and your 36 years! To come away from what must have been an arduous career with <i>compassion, enormous gratitude and a sense of camaraderie with the mentally ill</i>, with humility, tells me much about you. It has been said that we all have varying levels of madness, so it really is true that we are them. I really appreciate you reading and bringing your perspective from the field of psychiatry.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-1018757103633529142011-11-09T04:47:16.136-05:002011-11-09T04:47:16.136-05:00Margaret, that was a terrible pun, but I forgive y...<b>Margaret</b>, that was a terrible pun, but I forgive you and thank you for reading and being enthused! :-)Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-77304638568898799182011-11-09T04:46:33.805-05:002011-11-09T04:46:33.805-05:00Merci, Peter! There was much more to say, and much...Merci, <b>Peter</b>! There was much more to say, and much more I wanted to learn. I would like to see the project in book form so that I could have the journal entries at hand. Apparently Robert had 80 tintypes, but he only hung half that, I believe.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-64448510181953303102011-11-09T04:44:59.576-05:002011-11-09T04:44:59.576-05:00Thanks for reading, Marcie! I understand conflicte...Thanks for reading, <b>Marcie</b>! I understand conflicted feelings for the project. It isn't comfortable!Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-16421827730212805302011-11-08T20:28:44.711-05:002011-11-08T20:28:44.711-05:00Erm... Can I just say, you said lupus :)
It's...Erm... Can I just say, you said lupus :) <br />It's funny, because I did just post exactly that... An intimate portrait of it all. And yet not that intimate, because nothing ever is once displaced from our own bodies and minds. <br />I always think the most fearsome thing about having illness of any kind is the treatment of it - if you are blessed, the treatment will be humane and compassionate and holistic. But the other side of things, the inability of others to cope or respond humanely, that is where the darkness lies. Not in the illness itself.Shaistahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00259344471712162333noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-29718301180812228362011-11-08T19:50:44.130-05:002011-11-08T19:50:44.130-05:00Ruth, this is generous! What a tremendous study -...Ruth, this is generous! What a tremendous study - an important key. <br /><br />There is so much that I will have to return a few times. <br /><br />I wish my mother was here to read this. She was an advocate for women who had so much trouble with menopause that they ended up on psych wards. Doctors really didn't know what else to prescribe until valium came into existence!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-60780287303115760392011-11-08T17:28:53.600-05:002011-11-08T17:28:53.600-05:00I am coming late to this post but am absorbed by i...I am coming late to this post but am absorbed by it. 36 years as a psychiatric nurse gave me deep compassion, enormous gratitude and a sense of camaraderie with the mentally ill. Each person has a story, each person has a dark side, a shadow self. Keep that in mind and we can "see generously" as Hillman counsels. I hope the artistic work of your friends opens the world of the mentally ill and makes it more accessible to those who shun it. I listened once to a woman who was paranoid tell the tricky tortures of trying to do her food shopping and felt amazed and humbled. They are us, we are them. This post took work and research- than you.Grandmother Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18169464484379536529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-67466832870616723952011-11-08T17:16:55.602-05:002011-11-08T17:16:55.602-05:00What a rich post! A bit of history, stunning phot...What a rich post! A bit of history, stunning photographic art, opera... Wow. "Insane" how much I loved all you effort! (forgive me that bad pun)Margarethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00007201357693227614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-38014660831678961742011-11-07T17:47:08.170-05:002011-11-07T17:47:08.170-05:00Yes, it was a long post, but interesting as it was...Yes, it was a long post, but interesting as it was, I could have continued reading, watching, listening... This is what I like about (some) blogs, it's an excellent way to learn ... and here I learnt a lot!PeterParishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09694538476960957295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-37054485959411716542011-11-07T17:34:27.443-05:002011-11-07T17:34:27.443-05:00What an absolutely fascinating photographic projec...What an absolutely fascinating photographic project. Not sure if I love or hate it...but am definitely intrigued.Marciehttp://www.marciescudderphotography.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-91035785875205484282011-11-07T15:26:12.890-05:002011-11-07T15:26:12.890-05:00Thanks, Robert!
As for your comment about Laing ...Thanks, <b>Robert</b>! <br /><br />As for your comment about Laing and the others saying that madness is a justified and inevitable response to this mad world, I must agree. Sometimes I wonder that we are not more fragile as people, and how we go on surviving, getting up every morning. I am blessed with great happiness in my life, but there is so much inconceivable, institutionalized madness!Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-398009227878101412011-11-07T15:21:02.059-05:002011-11-07T15:21:02.059-05:00SamaraZone, I hate that you face this with your mo...<b>SamaraZone</b>, I hate that you face this with your mother, that she lives in such pain. I hope that you will have strength to help her through this cruel time! Thank you for reading, and I'm glad you loved it.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-70904063472510140942011-11-07T12:34:23.844-05:002011-11-07T12:34:23.844-05:00Such an interesting and thought-provoking post, Ru...Such an interesting and thought-provoking post, Ruth - objectively written, and also quite moving.<br /><br />I remember RD Laing and other 60s/70s psychologists and psychiatrists believing 'madness'/'mental illness' to be a justified and inevitable response to a 'mad' society/world. I think this is true.The Solitary Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-60086427735523648892011-11-07T10:00:59.279-05:002011-11-07T10:00:59.279-05:00I loved this one! I struggle with a mother who suf...I loved this one! I struggle with a mother who suffers from serious mental illness. A once loving and gentle woman, with a soft face, now has a face of pain. It's been a heart wrenching journey to witness someone you love face their days this way.SamaraZonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07073314934356229288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-14859736053196108322011-11-07T07:48:04.466-05:002011-11-07T07:48:04.466-05:00Dear Boots, I am amazed that you could work in the...Dear <b>Boots</b>, I am amazed that you could work in the psychiatric hospital, but of course someone must, and I'm grateful. <br /><br />Thank you for watching Robert's video, and for your observation about levity and humor as we approach such serious subjects! As a person who has only recently learned to laugh at myself, I'm interested in the topic, very much, and how people respond to it.<br /><br />I am sorry to hear that Astrid's father suffered from mental illness. It sounds as though it is too painful for her to face now, but as you say, perhaps she will be able to one day. We each do the best we can! And the universe brings us small windows (and sometimes cosmic two-by-fours as Inge says) to open our eyes. Consciousness is a strange and fluid thing!Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-87335235239856556882011-11-07T07:42:09.544-05:002011-11-07T07:42:09.544-05:00Dear Vagabonde, thank you for reading my posts so ...Dear <b>Vagabonde</b>, thank you for reading my posts so thoroughly!<br /><br />I'm glad you like my hair. I think it is a lot like yours!<br /><br />I'm glad you like Atlanta's amount of snow. I feel something like what you said, in reverse, that I could not take so much heat in that place. :-)<br /><br />Oh I did not know about people paying to watch poor hungry children eating Christmas dinner. It makes me sick, to think of a public display of such voyeurism. We are still voyeurs though, and I must be honest about it. But maybe we as people have evolved from that time. I do wonder about it though, for there is too much cruelty, intended and otherwise, that suffers the poor to exist as they do.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-75847328356723953382011-11-07T07:27:14.084-05:002011-11-07T07:27:14.084-05:00Thanks, Rosaria! Yes, I agree. Even if all of us c...Thanks, <b>Rosaria</b>! Yes, I agree. Even if all of us can't face the same intensity of looking, we all benefit, I feel, from how others push boundaries.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-46077997560214909012011-11-07T07:24:18.558-05:002011-11-07T07:24:18.558-05:00Thank you, California Girl.
Yes, I love Robert&#...Thank you, <b>California Girl</b>. <br /><br />Yes, I love Robert's approach to flowers. The wet plate ones are so gorgeous, and often he brings in a surprising element that links the flowers in subtly evocative ways.<br /><br />How cool that you got to see Hogarth's paintings and engravings in London! It is not clear to me (need further investigation) whether he created the fiction about Tom Rakewell.<br /><br />I understand your response to the Bedlam portraits. I wonder what your husband thinks. <br /><br />Thank you!Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-18840857597843677452011-11-07T07:19:45.463-05:002011-11-07T07:19:45.463-05:00George, thank you very much for your affirmations ...<b>George</b>, thank you very much for your affirmations of the spirit in this post! I am so struck by your inclusion of the psychotic to participate in <i>seeing generously</i>—Yes! No assumptions should be made about any individual's experience of the world. I think of some as having too tender and fragile a presence with others (which is what I see in that one photo of Robert's that I love so much). We call it "madness" because a person can't function in our society's constructs very well. But aren't many of the constructs of our society utterly <b>MAD</b>?!<br /><br />Thank you for echoing Ellen's mention of "King of Hearts" which I did not know about. It sounds very interesting, and I would like to see it.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-71270548682067550202011-11-07T06:51:29.021-05:002011-11-07T06:51:29.021-05:00Elizabeth, thank you for reading and responding so...<b>Elizabeth</b>, thank you for reading and responding so well and generously.<br /><br />I do not know Antonia White or John Clare. We need their stories, out of the isolation of mental illness and the institution. To feel invisible, or worse—ostracized, in one's pain only adds to the pain. <br /><br />Thank God the light of illumination began to dawn on professionals, as in your grandmother's Northampton Asylum. These evolutions can't be undervalued. They help give us hope and encouragement to persevere in making things better in all arenas.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-21767234459212942542011-11-07T06:47:45.347-05:002011-11-07T06:47:45.347-05:00Robert Mc it is really great to have you visit, kn...<b>Robert Mc</b> it is really great to have you visit, knowing you admire Robert's work! I am happy that you were able to see something of his show here.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com