recovery
isreal
recoveryisreal.org
isreal
recoveryisreal.org
Recovery
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EmailAlmost five years ago, a wonderful opportunity was presented to me. It was a time of looking toward my remaining working years and wondering where and how to best spend them. After much consideration, I left my job and began working for THE ALLIANCE as an activist and advocate.
One aspiration was to assist in the essential, colossal goal of changing the paradigm that exerts discrimination against a particular group of people who mostly exist outside of their communities. I embrace the adage, “If you aren’t part of the solution; you are part of the problem”. I brought my personal experiences to my work - the injustices that had affected me and members of my family for having been labeled “mentally ill”.
My insight has grown these past few years, and that often feels overwhelming. There are good people doing good work, but there is so much to be done. I sometimes think in terms of past, present, and future. The history of the liberation movement is very important to where we have come today and should not be lost. The future requires strategy and carefully appointed efforts that may best be gained by solidarity among activists. The present is what it is - and that is often the conundrum for advocates. An advocate may appreciate a particular tactic for the future; he or she may also be working with someone who is facing an unwanted, involuntary treatment today. Weighing long- and short-term goals can be difficult.
With all of this always on my mind, I wish to share two of the most important things that I have learned through my work with THE ALLIANCE and the “Mental Patients” Liberation Movement.
The first is a self-realization. My childhood is a compilation of horrific events and lacking in the most basic human needs. There was seldom food available, heat in the winters, sufficient clothing, or even a bed. I often lived without electricity or adequate plumbing. I was neglected, routinely abused, and always afraid. Despite all of that, I have learned that the worse thing that happened to me was that I was alone. In joining THE ALLIANCE, I gained what I had needed most of all - people to listen, understand, share, and help to protect me from further harm founded in the affects of those initial experiences.
The second thing is this: The difficulty of a challenge, even the implausibility of success, does not relieve us of the responsibility to try - to struggle and strive.
It is not an easy job being an activist - to work or fight, for needed change. It is not easy to advocate - to work or fight for the expressed interest and/or rights protection of an individual, particularly when he or she is in immediate harm’s way.
The past few years have proven to be the enormous challenge that I only in part had anticipated. There has been much for me to learn and a great deal yet to learn. My work has caused me to dig deep inside to tap whatever skills, talents, and intelligence I may possess, as well as, to continue attempts to gain or improve those characteristics when needed. I have not always succeeded. The responsibility demands that I continue to try but gratefully, I am no longer alone.