Day 347 PTSD and a Parade

November 21, 2015

(If we live with an open and grateful attitude, every day will bring a gift. This is one of 365 gifts during the year I turned 70.)

 

COMBAT, part of The New Day Campaign, took place at Area 405 in Baltimore. Graffiti on support beam reads Ship to Hell, which tied in with some of the stories told tonight and was a metaphor for the event's theme and art. Musical performance by Ellen Cherry.

Tonight our calendar held two events. The first was COMBAT, part of the New Day Campaign that focuses on mental health, addiction and the healing power of art. COMBAT looks at PTSD through the art of music and stories. Victim of a near fatal auto crash resulting in PTSD, one of my favorite musicians performed, ellen cherry. Storytellers Lisa and Nick Lutwyche spoke of their troubled experiences, she in an abused former marriage and he as a British navy veteran of the Falklands war. Fred Foote, retired U.S. Navy physician, presented poems, photos and plans for a physical healing space at Walter Reed Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. Surrounding us on the walls, paintings and photographs told personal stories and the front room held a multimedia art installation—all powerful. 

We left early for the American Visionary Art Museum’s 20^th anniversary fun after-party, with a parade, food and music by 3AM Tokyo. At first glance, it appears that both events tonight are polar opposites. Not really. AVAM’s current exhibit is The Big Hope Show which includes survivors of personal traumas. Hope is the common thread for both events tonight. 

  

Hope is the acknowledgement that you are in a narrow space but you have had a glimpse, some flutter, of the possibility to transcend negative confinement and arrive at some more expansive, better, state of being. Hope is not simply wishful thinking, but rather a capacity to hold to the belief that change for the better can and will come, even when you can’t imagine what format that Dawn will take.” ~  Rebecca Hoffberger

My gift today is hope.

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Links for further information:
http://newdaycampaign.org       
http://ellencherry.com  
http://medicagainstbomb.com                  
http://zulfits.com                           
www.avam.org 

> Day 348: Morning Mistake

You can find links to my other posts on this project here:
http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html