My Favorite Bit of Information From The Week:
We Are All A Bit “Crazy”The Tedtalk Strange Answers To The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson was one of the first conversations that ever piqued my interest about the stigma on mental health, although I don’t think I could have quite articulated why at the time. My partner Benjamin reminded me of it this week, and I decided to share it with you.
I once read an article where Ronson is asked to describe his job, and I loved it because it is exactly what his Tedtalk afforded me: “I consider myself, I guess a storyteller. … The older I get, I think it’s more stories that kind of bring people together as opposed to push people apart.”
His Tedtalk explores what it is to be Psychotic, how the definition is a bit grey, and how we all have a little bit of madness in us to go along with our sanity. Without giving away too much of the talk, I will say that when I walk away from listening to this brief bit of journalism, I feel I see the grey in people. We are all a little “crazy” and we are all a little sane. We, all of us, have more to our nature than a simple label.
“Once you label me, you negate me” – Soren Kierkegaard
Ronson’s Bio: Jon Ronson is a Welsh journalist and documentary filmmaker whose works include The Men Who Stare at Goats and The Psychopath Test. For more on his work, check out his website.
Just for kicks and giggles: I found this beautiful exchange from Ronson’s Twitter feed between himself and Crazy Ex Girlfriend‘s Rachel Bloom. I hope you enjoy both of them as much as I did. The desensitization on medication is so crucial to healing, as well as the message “we are all a little sad, we are all a little ‘crazy'” is played through in these two comments and video. It’s O.K not to be O.K.
Ronson’s Tweet: People talk about their mental health issues so much more than they used to – it’s easy to forget that it takes a courageous leap of faith – that it won’t backfire in some way. So god bless people like @Racheldoesstuff who do so much good.
Rachel’s Tweet: Before I went on antidepressants, I too bought into the idea of them being shameful or a cop out. I was wrong. So, this song is about destigmatizing this particular pursuit of happiness. And also tap. #CrazyExGirlfriend
Link to The Musical Number on Antidepressants from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
Update On My Show:
One Woman Hamlet has a fundraiser on Oct. 26th 2019!!!
Tickets are only 20 dollars, which will help support the message that It’s O.K Not To Be O.K., as well as assisting in the production of One Woman Hamlet. The project is independently funded by me – and the beautiful humans who have already donated! – and without your help, it certainly couldn’t be possible.
The fundraiser will be hosted by the generous Yoga Loft! Please check out their website, as they have been so amazing and welcoming!
What To Expect At The Fundraiser?
- Silent auction with an incredible selection of gifts, tickets, lessons, and more!
- Puppet photo booth (with some of the characters from the show)!
- Delicious coffee
- Donuts from Smack Dab!
- Five minute group mindfulness activity
- Live music from the amazing Treble On The L!
- And a small mental health resources goody bag!
Be there or be awesome elsewhere – but seriously, if you could be there that would be great!
If you feel comfortable sharing this Fundraiser with your community via social media or by word of mouth that would be huge for the success of this project. This fundraiser is going to be amazing, but we need folks to be there if the project is going to thrive. Any support you can offer is truly appreciated! I promise you delicious donuts, a fantastic afternoon, and a show that promotes that it is O.K not to be O.K in exchange!
Next week I plan to share a full breakdown of all the amazing local businesses who are contributing to the day, either in tangible goods or in silent auction items, but I wanted to give you a teaser this week…
Smack Dab is going to be providing some of their delicious donuts!!!
Smack Dab is one of my favorite local businesses and I am incredibly honored that they will be a presence our fundraiser. They are a model example of a local business in my opinion, they offer comfort, inclusiveness, and community!
This snippet from their website says it all:
What Makes Smack Dab Special?
- We pay a living wage to all employees, and offer healthcare to all full time employees.
- We have diverted 29,000 pounds of compostable material from the landfill in partnership with Urban Canopy.
- We donate a percentage of revenue via monetary and in-kind donations to various nonprofits and organizations each year.
- We strive to mirror the diversity of our Rogers Park community and work to create a safe and inclusive working environment for folks from the LGBTQI community, women and POC.
- We prioritize supporting vendors and farmers supplying high quality, non GMO and/or organic products.
- We only cook with rice bran oil, sesame oil or olive oil—no canola, corn or soy oil ever!
- Almost all of our items can be modified to be vegan and/or GF.
- We offer a free bi-monthly community dinner (check our social media for dates and menus).
To learn more on this business, you can check out their website. They have some of the most delicious food, and welcoming environments I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying. Whether you can come to my fundraiser or not, I highly recommend stopping in to support this amazing local treasure and eat some delicious food!
Ways to Support: If you would like to donate to my show, share this project with a friend, or find out more about it please check out my gofundme here: https://www.gofundme.com/one-woman-hamlet
Thank You: Thank you VERY much to all who have donated thus far, making this project possible.