T H E    D A R K    N I G H T    O F    T H E    S O U L

we all have some

but

S O M E

have an everlasting, eternal D A R K    N I G H T

with no chance of dawn

and dusk being a far too long ago memory.       .        .

C  A  R  R  I  E       F  I  S  H  E  R

.        .        .her autopsy reports were released this week

screaming that there was a deadly cocktail

of countless illicit and prescription drugs

in her system.      .      .

THE  NEWS

as it always does with public figures,

began a new tidal wave of grief

and a fresh round of moralizing

on the wastefulness of addiction

and the perceived weakness of the poor victim,

which sadly is the stuff that keeps

TMZ and EXTRA and The National Enquirer in business.       .         .

If you’ve never suffered from a Mental Illness

you can’t begin to

K      N      O      W

let alone imagine what it possible could be like

or   f e e l

It would be like attempting to tell what it feels like to jump out of a plane

without ever having even been to an airport

let alone on a flight.         .         .

and yet we

P          R          E          S          U          P          P          O          S          E

Carrie talked openly about her demons

She never hid them

She never ran from them

She never shied away from letting us see her scars

even if it would make us wince

even if we’d prefer that they would stay hidden.        .        .

Mental Illness

is still the only kind of illness

we make people feel guilty

for being afflicted .          .          .

By the end of this week

I will have conducted three funerals for a

24, 27 and 28 year old folks

who battled their mental illness the same way

that Carrie Fisher

they weren’t quite as famous

but they’re all quite as dead

It’s a war

without a promise of ending

or a long-sought cease fire

and worse.       .       .

we seem to

at the least

be handing out the ammunition

and most definitely offering

little or no

s a n c t u a r y

and then shake our heads in pity

for the unfortunate causalities .          .          .

W     H     A     T          T     O         D     O  ?

It’s a legitimate question

if you care enough

to ask it

and then

simply wait for an answer.            .           .

Every year,

according to Newsweek Magazine

about 42.5 million American adults or

18.2 percent of the total adult population in the United States

suffers from some mental illness

enduring conditions such as

depression, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia.          .          .

It would seem that this

above all would be the norm and not the opposite:

The War

(if there truly is one)

on Mental Illness

rests not on the Mentally Ill

but the overwhelming majority

choosing to be Caring Catalysts

for more than just every once in a while

or when it happens to not-very-often

is convenient.           .         .

A   F    T     E     R         A     L     L :

Don’t   pull   the   shade   up

on   the

D   A   R   K         N   I   G   H   T         O   F          S     O     U     L

tear   it   down

and       L   I   G   H  T       a      path

that   well   might   not   have   ever   seen

even   a   flicker !