Life in the fast lane
This was taken on that frozen pond where the ducks were loosing their web footing and making those dramatic landings shooting across the frozen water with little grace and aplomb……unlike the two swans also resident on the pond, who were very graceful and dignified.
Im sitting here thinking thats much like life at times, its so easy to become like the ducks and lose that sense of balance, rushing around, losing footing…..Wouldnt life be great if we could glide through as gracefully and serenely as the swan, but life has other plans for us humans at times, not always ones we would choose as we all know.
Since my weekend off, Ive attended training on Mental Health First Aid on Thursday and today attended a conference run by the Scottish Recovery Network on the concept of recovery. This has been placed high on the agenda by the Scottish Executive in order to promote an new way of providing meaningful services to promote mental wellbeing. This is so challenging as it means a whole shift in attitudes and perceptions and ways of approaching and working to support people find their own path to recovery and not some proscribed path, chosen on their behalf.
I feel drained, inspired after hearing first hand so many recovery stories today, told in the most simple ways, raw and honest, challenging, yet as I say inspiring. After lunch the session was begun by a stand up comedian, who had us all in stitches, a man who could barely raise his head to face the world less than a year ago, I saw painters, poets and great photographers, people who found validity through the power of creativity and self expression, art as a medium, productive and giving..
Most of these people would at one point have been seen, seen themselves as lame ducks perhaps, yet amid their struggle, their journeys, one discovers there is as much beauty in a duck finding its footing as their is in the swan that glides gracefully.
Do you notice that duck on the far left, legs splayed, hardly graceful, but like many of the people who told their story today he too found his feet again. What really struck home today was that many of the people who spoke, still suffered many of the symtoms that can cause mental distress, often what their diagnosis is based on and the attached labels, but the resounding message…..’ I am more than just a package of symptoms, I am a human being who can work alongside, bear, overcome and still produce and contribute something worthwhile, valuable and meaningful to this thing we call life, mine and yours.
