Thoughts on mental Health
Maybe it’s telling that the sun has decided to cast a smokey orange pall across our sky today. There is an interesting symbolism with Orange and working with people originally from Holland has given be a healthy respect for the colour far beyond support for their National Football Team. As a multicultural place, British Columbians can adapt orange in both the Eastern style as symbolic of creativity, luck, prosperity and love as well as the broad Western concept of joy through hatred, depending on hue.
It is not a stretch to imagine that these smoky Orange days are being adapted into our culture as a colour for Truth and Reconciliation. Truth that our neighbours to the South are on fire, both politically and literally. That our past is truthfully giving us creative new ways to prosper and understand love in a broader context and perhaps even reconciling that joy and hate are within a hairs breadth of one another in human emotion.
Mental Health seems a buzz word these days. As our least monetarily valued Ministry ($9.7M) the situation does not look good for this portfolio. In fact, while other budgets, like the Legislative Assembly and our Officers of the Legislature are estimated to grow by 5% and 9% respectively this year, our Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions will see a CUT of more than 3%. Is this a Solution being proposed by our current elected representatives? A solution to the growing population of un-housed? A solution to the growing population of Addicted? A solution to the growing population mentally fatigued from this Pandemic?
With an orange beacon of Truth and Reconcilliation, lets find alternatives to the current Top-Down philosophy. Personally, I’m alternating between all the hues of Orange right now but we need to kill off this apathy. Helping those by helping ourselves only leads to a worsening scene as witnessed so visibly across our borders (I’d argue both Albertan and American). It’s a version of trickle down economics that leaves 99% of the world feeling like their head is being pissed on. Not good for Mental Health. Not good for addictions.
Orange is also representative of gluttony. In the Fall, we harvest and gorge ourselves on the fruits of life’s labour. The status quo is to keep the feast and the party alive but the banquet table is nearly empty and its not yet Thanksgiving. The shrewd observer notes the TRUTH that it is a long winter ahead and RECONCILES that we need to pace ourselves.
Please offer yourselves to the cause, Run and vote for Independent MLA’s in your communities and offer your shade of Orange...
Sincerely, Ryan (rjgisler@hotmail.com)
