And One More Thing...

Per Britta and Lindsey's request, I am documenting this profound fact: Last night at Crush, five women in their mid-twenties witnessed a DRAGONFLY crawl out of this girl's purse. And then she killed it. In Crush! A classy time was had by all.

Twice in One Week for a Reason

Winnie-the-Pooh Pie

1 pre-made graham cracker crust pie shell (or make your own, overachiever)
1 pint whipping cream
2-3 bananas (not too ripe)
1 jar of Williams Sonoma Dulce de Leche (the best $10.00 you'll ever spend)

First dump the cream into a mixing bowl, whip for about 4 minutes. Just fluffy enough to be cloud-like. Not too stiff. Add some sugar to it if you want. Or a little vanilla! Yum!

Next zap the dulce de leche in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Spread a good glob on the bottom of the pie crust, then slice the bananas over the pie. Arrange them if you're into being organized. Plop the cream on top of the bananas as liberally as you're like. I'm a liberal, so I like a lot of whipped cream. And taxes. HA!

Top the pie with some hot cocoa powder, or if you're really feeling fancy, shave some of a Hershey's bar with a vegetable peeler.

Enjoy!

Warm Fuzzyhood

Soapbox Alert! My Fundraising Letter...

Hello Friends,

Don't be alarmed. I'm writing with a cause. But it's a good one. Many of you know my darling brother Skip, who turned 22 this year. About seven years ago, Skip sunk into a miserable, dark depression. And his journey since then has been long and turbulent. Two years ago he was given a diagnosis of schizophrenia, and while that, ahem, landed our family squarely at the corner of Crappy and Confused, the progress he has made since that diagnosis is phenomenal. I mean, REALLY. He went from agitated, sleepless, haggard, to bright, funny, functioning, and making the best of some wild, wild circumstances. He is himself again, and his symptoms will ebb and flow and will always need treatment. But he's having good days, thanks to the doctors and therapists and teachers and social workers and nurses and friends and family and pastors and pharmacists and YOU.

Because people like you are the ones who can support (drum roll) organizations like the National Alliance on Mental Alliance (NAMI). And NAMI is the glue that helps bring all those other people together, giving consumers (the word we use for folks with mental illness) the hope that it's going to get better. NAMI offers support groups for consumers, family members and friends, generates anti-stigma information to the public (no more Burger King commercials that make us want to cry) and continues to advocate for research on the treatment of mental illness.

Here are some fun facts about schizophrenia!

*Research on mental illness has largely occurred since 1980. That's way later than heart disease, cancer, etc. It's a new frontier!

*Schizophrenia is more common than Multiple Sclerosis. Truth.

*It affects the entire world population equally. It's not in the water, or the money, or the culture, or the religion.

*Schizophrenia affects the ability to think, formulate ideas, reason, remember, and/or concentrate. It's a doozy.

*Side effects of the most effective medications include memory inhibition, weight gain, increased risk for cardio-vascular disorders, bankruptcy! :)

So I'm going on a walk with NAMI to help keep their work trucking along. On May 15th we will stroll along Lake Washington and wave our flags and wear t-shirts in honor of the ones we love, and I would be so happy to send your money in the direction of this good work. Five dollars from each of you would make my d-a-y.

Click here to support me.

Thanks for listening. Happy Spring!

Holly

I'll Stop Shaving Now

Attention, anybody who has ever accused me of becoming too left-coast!

I am going to LILITH FAIR this summer

in George, Washington.

You heard me. You couldn't really call me a lefty until now. It's like a feminist bonanza!

I'll be trekking 'cross the mountain with five of my favorite people. For example...

The Awkward Blogger. Known to some as SPU Librarian-in-Training, but to me she is the most prolific storyteller of them all. One time she told a story about a miniskirt, and it's all I can do not to tell everybody I know. She's that awesome.

Also hopping in the minivan is this delightful creature. The goddess of fine cookware and the friend everybody wants to have when getting married/having a baby/existing. I expect fine snacks from Queen Ice Cream. She is also a therapist, so she can judge you whilst serving you dinner!

Overall-wearing, Eastside-dwelling mommy of a boy named after someone famous. Once she was my boss, and even though that job was not remotely my calling, we stay friends. Especially because her child is friggin' cute.

Again, my friends are awesome. Best friend and former roommate extraordinaire, this Ta-Ta Saver will likely provide several coolers full of white sangria for the festivities. She will probably find a way to include tofu in the recipe, and we will actually like it! She also gags a lot. I sometimes think she's faking it until I realize that she isn't.

The leader of our pack and much cooler than this haircut would suggest, our Mighty Mommy. She drives a red-hot minivan, gives thrifty a whole new meaning and loves to interpret weird dreams.

So that's the crew! Stay tuned to hear about our very exciting, inter-generational road trip.

Revisiting That Soapbox

I ran across this article in the archives of SPU's Response Magazine. Reminded me of why, despite its flaws, my place of worship and community is on the right track. It's long, but read up. It's local! :)

Church In-Reach: Care for the Congregation

“When a person deals with mental illness, sometimes the Christian community says it’s a spiritual problem — that you don’t have enough faith, and if you just read your Bible more, you’d be cured,” says Claudia Grauf-Grounds, chair of Seattle Pacific University’s Marriage and Family Therapy program.

One Seattle congregation is taking radical steps to change such thinking. Twelve years ago, University Presbyterian Church (UPC) Senior Pastor Earl Palmer invited David Zucker to join the staff. Zucker, neither a clergyman nor a clinician, had long worked for Agape Outreach, a home for adults with severe and persistent mental illness. He was a natural fit for a groundbreaking new position at the church: mental health advocate.

“I’ve learned over the years that the biggest part of healing and recovery is how well you’re welcomed back into the community after you’ve been ill,” says Zucker. “Folks that come the farthest have cheerleaders to root them on. I wanted to explore what the church could do to provide that kind of support.”

Zucker initially envisioned his UPC ministry would center on outreach to people in the city who struggled with mental illness. But something amazing happened. “People — church members — started to come to me in droves,” he says. “Many of them came like Nicodemus in the night, knocking on my window and coming up to me after services.”

Zucker describes families in distress; depression-ravaged, high-functioning adults; and everything in between. “I found that UPC was no different than any other congregation in America; members of the church were suffering and struggling with mental illness, and they were afraid to be identified,” he says. “Yet they desperately needed and wanted support.” That’s when Zucker came to an important conclusion, one that would define his next 12 years at the church: “We needed to be doing in-reach, not out-reach.”

It takes a special sensitivity level to manage such a program. “I’m someone who is a survivor of mental illness,” he says candidly. “That’s where my interest and openness come from. I’ve walked through the dark night of the soul myself. After I became a Christian, I got engaged. When she called it off, I became deeply depressed. Folks very quickly got tired of praying for me. I felt like I was a leper — on the periphery. I’ll never forget the pain and brokenness I felt.” He says he saw the importance of community in recovery from illness and crisis. “I became convinced of the healing value of relational ministry — that’s ultimately what we do here.”

Zucker says his work is rooted in a word: compassion. “In Greek, compassion means to suffer with,” he explains. “When you choose to walk alongside someone who’s suffering, you enter into their grief. I’d love to see seminarians have more training to do this.”

UPC’s model for mental health ministry is radical by church standards; it’s also rooted in concepts of collaborative care — specifically, that healing can be maximized by a network of support. “Our focus is to provide a first-class welcome and spiritual discipleship to folks who are hurting,” says Zucker. “No matter how ill a person is, even if they’re delusional, there is still that deep spiritual yearning.”

Beyond that, Zucker serves as an advocate, someone who goes to bat for people who are suffering. He’s there to provide a listening ear, support, and referrals. “I advocate for people, meet their felt needs, and help network for them.” Sometimes that means helping families access social services, dealing head-on with crisis, or making referrals to psychotherapists. “If someone comes in here needing support for life, I’m here,” he says. “I can’t do everything for them, but I can do something.” And Zucker is especially proud of one thing: “In all of the years I have been here, not one person who has attended our fellowship groups has ever taken their own life.”

Aside from managing five church-sponsored support groups attended by nearly 40 people each week, he is in contact with roughly 200 people in any given Monday-through-Sunday interval — some of whom are psychotherapists working collaboratively with him to meet the needs of parishioners and their families. “Twenty-five years ago, churches didn’t know what to do with divorce; now there are ministries and support groups for people going through that,” says Zucker. “I think this [mental illness ministry] is the last frontier in churches — because it impacts so many people.”

He points to 1 Corinthians, where Paul likens the church to the body: “Paul says all the parts of the body are essential, but he reminds us that we need to give greater care to the weaker parts — that’s ultimately what leads to greater unity in the body.”

Just a Moment of Your Time :)

Please watch this trailer, oh please, won't you? Please.