The Anonymous People

I watched the trailer for the new documentary, The Anonymous People, and it took my breath away. 

“This is our Black Plague”, says actor Kristen Johnston, speaking to an audience. She’s talking about addiction. 

And this film is a rallying cry for changing public policy on addiction and challenging our private assumptions about the over 23 million people impacted in this country.   A rush of emotion hit me at 1:04 in the clip with the words,“our country is trying to incarcerate our way out of the problem”. 

Leading the charge are legions of recovering people who are finding their voices, no longer willing to live in anonymity.





The JHW Foundation, Inc., in Richmond, VA. is proud to present a screening of The Anonymous People at The Westhampton Theater on Wed., Oct. 23 at 7:30.

Please click on the link below to purchase your ticket.

 

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Mary Oliver, “The Journey”

Mary Oliver is considered to be one of the greatest contemporary American poets. She is recognized for powerful renderings of nature through her words. 

This poem is about listening to our conscious and our heart in order to find our own authentic voice.  Through this voice we can arrive at a place of security and peace.  

My friend and writing mentor, Constance, shared this with me and I had to pass it on.

“THE JOURNEY”

 One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice —
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.

“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.

But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do —
determined to save
the only life you could save.

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Southwest Trip List

1 week trip to the Southwest
visiting friends and my children = 

2 flights –
   1 at the crack
1 late luggage arrival –
   checked through to Salt Lake,
   went first to Detroit ?
3 nights with friends in Utah
2 back to back stomach bugs
2 hikes –
   carrying tail end of stomach bug
1 touristy chairlift ride
1 rainy outdoor evening concert and picnic –
   Railroad Earth and Bruce Hornsby
1 sushi dinner party
1 uneventful flight to CO
1 fairly flexible husband – to be determined
1 airconditioned rental car
2 luxury hotels
1 unairconditioned daughter’s car
5 edgy restaurants
1 cookout for 20 plus East Coast 20 somethings
1 amazing home cooked Italian dinner with SC friends
1 trendy Farmer’s Market
1 circuitous trip to Red Rocks (without water)
1 Mexican lunch in Morrison, CO.
1 airport hotel
2 uneventful flights –
  1 at the crack
1/4 passengers still in sleepwear
1 husband happily waving goodbye
1 drive back from PA.
1 reunion with Ginny
1 familiar and really comfortable king size bed

There is absolutely no place like home.

 

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