“I feel very sane about how crazy I am.” – Carrie Fisher

You know, I write about my grief here for two reasons: it’s the truth of what I am experiencing at this time, and also I want this type of conversation to be normalized. I am out of my mind right now, mentally ill. If I had the flu or cancer or any physical form of illness, it would be socially acceptable to speak about it. Nobody would think anything of it. Let’s make that true as well for mental illnesses. Let’s take the stigma away. Mental illness comes and goes like the common cold, and it does not mean we are insane. Insanity is terminal and requires different treatment all together. Insanity is self-destructive.

There is a common denominator between all illness, of the body or the mind: the goal is health. No one wishes to be unwell. But when we are, we need help from others. Let’s normalize that help, and let’s fund it. The U.S. is, as far as I know, the only “civilized” country in the world that does not provide health care for all it’s citizens. That, to my mind, is obscene disregard for our humanity. But then, you can’t keep people enslaved in poverty if you provide human services. Watch out for those strong, healthy people – they won’t hustle for your minimum wage.

Are you familiar with the Bodhisattva vow? I don’t know much about Buddhism, but I know it is the vow taken by all participants who seek enlightenment, and the short version is this: nobody is finished here until everybody is finished. Didn’t your mother teach you that?!