okay tonight I would like to talk to you
specifically about the actual title of
my talk my tag my title is can I be
individual on my own and I took it from
there really good serious that we had
this year called dairy girls there’s two
scenes from that particular program that
I want to talk about one is when Erin
talks to her mother and expresses that
she actually wants to be individual this
year and not actually wear her blazer
her mother’s responses Jerry get the
wooden spoon so Erin goes down to meet
her friend Clare and Clare goes why are
you wearing a blazer I thought we were
going to be individual this year and
Erin goes I wanted to be but my mommy
wouldn’t let me we’re clear response I
don’t want to be individual owe me one
so what I’d like to use this as beyond
the borders tonight the border I want
you to look beyond is I want you to
think about mommy’s response a society’s
response to deference and I’d also like
you to think about Clare’s response as
watered his lake to be different in
society I do not want to be individual
on my own the individual solution I
would like to talk to you about tonight
is that what you would normally think of
as mental illness but tonight I’m going
to ask you to think about it from a very
different perspective not from the place
of illness but actually from the place
of is this some individual solution to
cope with the world we know 11 now you
might ask what does she mean what is the
solution
what is an individual solution what I’m
talking about is that every single
person sitting in this audience tonight
we have all found our way in the world
some of us you know we were born and we
think we’re going to grow up we’re going
to go to school we’re going to get
married you know maybe we’ll have a car
maybe we will be really successful
become mothers become fathers and
they’re the ideals that society creates
first
and then sometimes in all of those
particular movements and life we’ll find
ourselves in places where maybe we
slightly have to adjust where we once
thought we where so maybe we’re maybe
confronted with some anxieties when we
become teenagers when we go to college
all of that and basically at that moment
we find our solution so for some of us
over working and being involved at work
as a solution for some of us art as a
solution for some of us it can be
alcohol I can be spending it can be
anything we all find our own way
but there are also other people who find
different ways they don’t necessarily
share the same ideals the sauce in the
same way they have just find another way
and I suppose when I’m thinking about
that I’m thinking about the time that we
know 11 these days we live in a time
where if we’re different in any way
there’s a label were categorized in
every way our children our couch Grey’s
these days and I suppose I would like us
to challenge that today and I’d like to
think about for example one of the
things I would have put was in my
abstract was voice hearing no enough a
lot of people will think of voice
hearing and hallucinations and delusions
as symptoms of psychosis as symptoms of
mental illness and I suppose I’ve been
very lucky to walk alongside an awful
lot of people who have that experience
and that person will speak to you many
individuals who voice here will actually
speak to you about the fact that that’s
actually their response to something for
some it’s a response to trauma for some
it’s actually spiritual experience but
many actually speak of the voices as
their particular way of connecting with
the world it’s my friend
it’s my guide sometimes this person
supports me this voice but there are
times that it isn’t very useful for some
people and even then the individual will
speak about how difficult it is when
that voice actually goes even though
it’s difficult because that is the way
that they have found their way to be in
the world I suppose what I would say in
regards to that we automatically think
there’s something wrong there we need to
fix it what about the Paris
who’s talking to themself as they’re
walking down the road no I’ll say I talk
to myself quite a lost walking down the
road but there are certain things and
what happens to us as human beings when
we see that when we’re confronted with
something that’s different it presents
us with this is foreign this is outside
of me and what I’m trying to say to you
today is it’s not actually it’s just a
different way that is the difference no
I suppose what I would also like to say
is at this moment in time we have many
many Campion’s that are going on they’re
very very useful but enough a lot of
them are kind of focused and very much
on these are the things that we need to
do to stay well these are the things
that are really important for us as
human beings but what’s really fun is
that very universal and what’s really
important is were not all the same we
all find our own individual way to be in
the world and this is someone’s way and
how is it as communities are we actually
support now one of the biggest myths I
think that we have in society is that we
all need people we all need to socialize
we all need to engage and I suppose I’d
like to challenge that tonight because I
think for some people it can be as
traumatic to be with people as it is for
some of us to be without people so that
would be
thing how I would speak to you about
what it was like for Claire to
acknowledge something of deference now
when we think about even tonight what
we’re here and we’re talking about
Beyond Borders and we are sales talk
about Donegal they appear we do us we do
it differently maybe that’s how we find
our way and Donegal to get beyond and
that’s our individual solution the
second part of my talk I’d like to talk
about is community and Maui Mary’s
response as I said we have many many
campaigns going on at the moment
very very useful very important for us
to talk but yes as human beings were
still here we’re still in distress at
times and what’s really really important
and this I suppose is the piece that I
think is essential for every one of us
to think of for as long as we have
communities and when I say communities I
mean everything’s in that community
systems individuals tines there needs to
be something that supports something
that is different somebody that uses a
moment within all of earth all of our
services and I work with and I work
within a service the struggles to meet
the demands sometimes of the distress of
human beings today and automatically
what are we going to do we need to do
something we need to fix somebody and
fundamentally a lot of the things that
possibly we may be looking at is trying
to create the normal person trying to
make somebody fit into absolutely
everything that we think is normal fit
into our ideals and I suppose what I
would say to you today when we were
talking about voices and we were talking
about you know things like that
we call them delusions but would you not
say the absolute delusion is that there
is absolute normality that there is one
because of all of these campaigns and
that a lot of people talk about all in
the old days you know we didn’t support
people who experienced the stress in our
society we put them into institutions
all of those kind of things and I
suppose what’s really really important
is that there were moments in those
institutions where people found a way to
be find their own something of their own
particularity they were able to be
supported there it wasn’t necessarily
changed but equally aware I would say in
our times we support a difference a lot
better than we do right now one of the
biggest examples I wanted to talk about
was this famous person I don’t know if
you’ve if you’ve ever met her in her
time was Mary Mary is a lady who danced
in O’Connor Streisand Dublin for 20
years she used to dance in O’Connell
Street for about five five hours a day
there isn’t anybody who was there he
didn’t know her and she sang and she
danced with the Virgin Mary and Mary
believed that every day she danced with
a Virgin Mary that in fact the world was
a better place her world was a better
place and that was her solution and we
embraced us how many times have we
spoken by people in our communities he
suffers with his nerves he marches to
his own tune but we Elijah’s we allowed
that person to walk down the road and
sing we layered that person to shout in
the corners but at this moment why are
we doing this why are we allowing that
and how do we do that how do we support
that and I suppose what I was trying to
do is think of an example that could
really make you think of something that
is really unusual and would challenge us
all as individuals within a community
what actually can be very effective so I
decided to talk to you about the movie
Lars and the real girl which is one of
the best movies and I’d really encourage
you to see it it’s about a young man
that when his mother dies he became so
depressed and his father was depressed
but he was so depressed that he shot
himself inside the host he didn’t engage
with his family his brother he didn’t
engage with
anytime anybody seen him he was
shuffling he was shuffling and he
wouldn’t look up no Lars his brother
invited him to dinner one night and he
said I’m going to bring her friends so
his brother was really excited that Lars
has engaged and finds a friend and Lars
arrived with an adult doll no we
normally associate a doll dolls with
other things but for Lars this was
Bianca his girlfriend and he sat and he
spoke with her as his brother looked on
in horror but what was interesting was
in the fellowman within the community
everybody looked in horror but they
decided to embrace his solution what it
was that he invented
and Bianca became part of everyday life
and and bit by best he was able to begin
to engage with people outside now could
you imagine today in Stern honor about
buffet if somebody rocked over there
with an avid doll we’d have a huge
question but fundamentally what ended up
at the end of that movie was that Lars
was actually evil to communicate with a
female who was not an adult doll
no I’m not necessarily saying that
that’s always the solution there’s
always a happier for after but what I’m
saying is let’s embrace the really
unusual solutions let’s embrace the
person who wants to go to a Quaker
Church and has never been a Quaker let’s
be a less embrace all of those things
and I suppose I’m also very conscious
that what I’m saying is to support an
individual solution doesn’t mean that we
don’t support them with and service is
there anything like that but what’s
fundamental is that we’re there we are
not trying to make people fit into our
ideals that what we’re trying to do is
to allow the person to look at the
ideals and how that matches his or her
particular way of being
now I suppose what I really thought
about when I came up here is that
basically for us we always say up here
we do differently so tonight what I’d
like to say it here Connell the Twin
Towns is do we thank you [Applause]
specifically about the actual title of
my talk my tag my title is can I be
individual on my own and I took it from
there really good serious that we had
this year called dairy girls there’s two
scenes from that particular program that
I want to talk about one is when Erin
talks to her mother and expresses that
she actually wants to be individual this
year and not actually wear her blazer
her mother’s responses Jerry get the
wooden spoon so Erin goes down to meet
her friend Clare and Clare goes why are
you wearing a blazer I thought we were
going to be individual this year and
Erin goes I wanted to be but my mommy
wouldn’t let me we’re clear response I
don’t want to be individual owe me one
so what I’d like to use this as beyond
the borders tonight the border I want
you to look beyond is I want you to
think about mommy’s response a society’s
response to deference and I’d also like
you to think about Clare’s response as
watered his lake to be different in
society I do not want to be individual
on my own the individual solution I
would like to talk to you about tonight
is that what you would normally think of
as mental illness but tonight I’m going
to ask you to think about it from a very
different perspective not from the place
of illness but actually from the place
of is this some individual solution to
cope with the world we know 11 now you
might ask what does she mean what is the
solution
what is an individual solution what I’m
talking about is that every single
person sitting in this audience tonight
we have all found our way in the world
some of us you know we were born and we
think we’re going to grow up we’re going
to go to school we’re going to get
married you know maybe we’ll have a car
maybe we will be really successful
become mothers become fathers and
they’re the ideals that society creates
first
and then sometimes in all of those
particular movements and life we’ll find
ourselves in places where maybe we
slightly have to adjust where we once
thought we where so maybe we’re maybe
confronted with some anxieties when we
become teenagers when we go to college
all of that and basically at that moment
we find our solution so for some of us
over working and being involved at work
as a solution for some of us art as a
solution for some of us it can be
alcohol I can be spending it can be
anything we all find our own way
but there are also other people who find
different ways they don’t necessarily
share the same ideals the sauce in the
same way they have just find another way
and I suppose when I’m thinking about
that I’m thinking about the time that we
know 11 these days we live in a time
where if we’re different in any way
there’s a label were categorized in
every way our children our couch Grey’s
these days and I suppose I would like us
to challenge that today and I’d like to
think about for example one of the
things I would have put was in my
abstract was voice hearing no enough a
lot of people will think of voice
hearing and hallucinations and delusions
as symptoms of psychosis as symptoms of
mental illness and I suppose I’ve been
very lucky to walk alongside an awful
lot of people who have that experience
and that person will speak to you many
individuals who voice here will actually
speak to you about the fact that that’s
actually their response to something for
some it’s a response to trauma for some
it’s actually spiritual experience but
many actually speak of the voices as
their particular way of connecting with
the world it’s my friend
it’s my guide sometimes this person
supports me this voice but there are
times that it isn’t very useful for some
people and even then the individual will
speak about how difficult it is when
that voice actually goes even though
it’s difficult because that is the way
that they have found their way to be in
the world I suppose what I would say in
regards to that we automatically think
there’s something wrong there we need to
fix it what about the Paris
who’s talking to themself as they’re
walking down the road no I’ll say I talk
to myself quite a lost walking down the
road but there are certain things and
what happens to us as human beings when
we see that when we’re confronted with
something that’s different it presents
us with this is foreign this is outside
of me and what I’m trying to say to you
today is it’s not actually it’s just a
different way that is the difference no
I suppose what I would also like to say
is at this moment in time we have many
many Campion’s that are going on they’re
very very useful but enough a lot of
them are kind of focused and very much
on these are the things that we need to
do to stay well these are the things
that are really important for us as
human beings but what’s really fun is
that very universal and what’s really
important is were not all the same we
all find our own individual way to be in
the world and this is someone’s way and
how is it as communities are we actually
support now one of the biggest myths I
think that we have in society is that we
all need people we all need to socialize
we all need to engage and I suppose I’d
like to challenge that tonight because I
think for some people it can be as
traumatic to be with people as it is for
some of us to be without people so that
would be
thing how I would speak to you about
what it was like for Claire to
acknowledge something of deference now
when we think about even tonight what
we’re here and we’re talking about
Beyond Borders and we are sales talk
about Donegal they appear we do us we do
it differently maybe that’s how we find
our way and Donegal to get beyond and
that’s our individual solution the
second part of my talk I’d like to talk
about is community and Maui Mary’s
response as I said we have many many
campaigns going on at the moment
very very useful very important for us
to talk but yes as human beings were
still here we’re still in distress at
times and what’s really really important
and this I suppose is the piece that I
think is essential for every one of us
to think of for as long as we have
communities and when I say communities I
mean everything’s in that community
systems individuals tines there needs to
be something that supports something
that is different somebody that uses a
moment within all of earth all of our
services and I work with and I work
within a service the struggles to meet
the demands sometimes of the distress of
human beings today and automatically
what are we going to do we need to do
something we need to fix somebody and
fundamentally a lot of the things that
possibly we may be looking at is trying
to create the normal person trying to
make somebody fit into absolutely
everything that we think is normal fit
into our ideals and I suppose what I
would say to you today when we were
talking about voices and we were talking
about you know things like that
we call them delusions but would you not
say the absolute delusion is that there
is absolute normality that there is one
because of all of these campaigns and
that a lot of people talk about all in
the old days you know we didn’t support
people who experienced the stress in our
society we put them into institutions
all of those kind of things and I
suppose what’s really really important
is that there were moments in those
institutions where people found a way to
be find their own something of their own
particularity they were able to be
supported there it wasn’t necessarily
changed but equally aware I would say in
our times we support a difference a lot
better than we do right now one of the
biggest examples I wanted to talk about
was this famous person I don’t know if
you’ve if you’ve ever met her in her
time was Mary Mary is a lady who danced
in O’Connor Streisand Dublin for 20
years she used to dance in O’Connell
Street for about five five hours a day
there isn’t anybody who was there he
didn’t know her and she sang and she
danced with the Virgin Mary and Mary
believed that every day she danced with
a Virgin Mary that in fact the world was
a better place her world was a better
place and that was her solution and we
embraced us how many times have we
spoken by people in our communities he
suffers with his nerves he marches to
his own tune but we Elijah’s we allowed
that person to walk down the road and
sing we layered that person to shout in
the corners but at this moment why are
we doing this why are we allowing that
and how do we do that how do we support
that and I suppose what I was trying to
do is think of an example that could
really make you think of something that
is really unusual and would challenge us
all as individuals within a community
what actually can be very effective so I
decided to talk to you about the movie
Lars and the real girl which is one of
the best movies and I’d really encourage
you to see it it’s about a young man
that when his mother dies he became so
depressed and his father was depressed
but he was so depressed that he shot
himself inside the host he didn’t engage
with his family his brother he didn’t
engage with
anytime anybody seen him he was
shuffling he was shuffling and he
wouldn’t look up no Lars his brother
invited him to dinner one night and he
said I’m going to bring her friends so
his brother was really excited that Lars
has engaged and finds a friend and Lars
arrived with an adult doll no we
normally associate a doll dolls with
other things but for Lars this was
Bianca his girlfriend and he sat and he
spoke with her as his brother looked on
in horror but what was interesting was
in the fellowman within the community
everybody looked in horror but they
decided to embrace his solution what it
was that he invented
and Bianca became part of everyday life
and and bit by best he was able to begin
to engage with people outside now could
you imagine today in Stern honor about
buffet if somebody rocked over there
with an avid doll we’d have a huge
question but fundamentally what ended up
at the end of that movie was that Lars
was actually evil to communicate with a
female who was not an adult doll
no I’m not necessarily saying that
that’s always the solution there’s
always a happier for after but what I’m
saying is let’s embrace the really
unusual solutions let’s embrace the
person who wants to go to a Quaker
Church and has never been a Quaker let’s
be a less embrace all of those things
and I suppose I’m also very conscious
that what I’m saying is to support an
individual solution doesn’t mean that we
don’t support them with and service is
there anything like that but what’s
fundamental is that we’re there we are
not trying to make people fit into our
ideals that what we’re trying to do is
to allow the person to look at the
ideals and how that matches his or her
particular way of being
now I suppose what I really thought
about when I came up here is that
basically for us we always say up here
we do differently so tonight what I’d
like to say it here Connell the Twin
Towns is do we thank you [Applause]
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