recovery network: Toronto

Beware the Jabberwocky

Posted on December 16, 2016 by recoverynetwork:Toronto

Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

Jabberwocky – Lewis Carol

Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought —
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!’
He chortled in his joy.

Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Posted in Ideas, sh!t is f#cked | Tagged Jabberwocky, slithy toves | Comments Off

prescription – a basic element of oppression

Posted on December 13, 2016 by recoverynetwork:Toronto

One of the basic elements of the relationship between oppressor and oppressed is prescription.
– Paolo Freire

These days we rarely use the term except in the medical sense, to set out or pre determine beforehand [in writing], but it is interesting how a medical prescription has become such a powerful tool in the service of one group seeking to control others deemed “too different”.

As Freire makes clear, prescription is a basic element of oppression.

When we take it upon ourselves to tell another what they need
we deny them the opportunity to decide and choose for themselves.

And we deny them the opportunity to learn how.

Posted in Emancipate yourself..., Ideas | Tagged Freire, oppression, Prescription | Comments Off

we do not perceive the world as we see it…

Posted on December 11, 2016 by recoverynetwork:Toronto

Same goes for hearing.

Just because you have not yet learned to hear some of the many voices that there are to hear in this universe does not mean others have not – or that you cannot.

We are more than machine – more than a recording device. “We do not passively take in sensory data from the world around us and record it like a camera. There is something like that going on in the eye, of course” Peter Senge. There is much more to seeing than the eye and there is much more to hearing than the ears.

We each perceive the world differently. What we perceive in this moment is characteristic of everything we have experienced up to this point – and that is “characteristic of a living system”.

We each see hear smell feel the way in our own unique way. Some of us believe that their way of seeing is the only way, the correct way to see, that they are the arbiter of what can be seen, and that those who see differently are a problem.

And that, that is their problem.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

The way I am – Ingrid Michaelson

Posted on December 10, 2016 by recoverynetwork:Toronto

And you take me the way I am.

“The Way I Am”

If you were falling, then I would catch you.
You need a light, I’d find a match.
Cause I love the way you say good morning.
And you take me the way I am.

If you are chilly, here take my sweater.
Your head is aching, I’ll make it better.

Cause I love the way you call me baby.
And you take me the way I am.

I’d buy you Rogaine when you start losing all your hair.
Sew on patches to all you tear.

Cause I love you more than I could ever promise.
And you take me the way I am.
You take me the way I am.
You take me the way I am.

Posted in Ideas, music | Comments Off

What’s it like round here?

Posted on December 7, 2016 by recoverynetwork:Toronto

Seth Godin often pops something into my inbox that shows me a way to say something I’m struggling to find a way to say and to share…

Community standards

“What’s it like around here?”

It’s a fair question to ask about an office, a home, a town…

“Why do people act like that, talk like that, treat others that way?”

The only reason they do is because we let them. People can’t violate community standards for long without being asked to leave the community. Either that, or the standards change.

– Seth Godin

Life is hard and dealing with a lifetime of pain is hard. For everyone.

In support groups we try to make a bit more space than we might find elsewhere – but there are limits to what people can bear.

When we take up all the space for our own pain we pass on the hurt to others.
Hurt people hurt people.

Understanding our own pain and choosing to limit our capacity to pass it on is a step in finding compassion and making difficult the choice to contribute to a less violent world – a world that is easier to live in.

Still, if we consistently insist on imposing our crap on a group, with hostility, bullying, aggression and violence towards the group and the individuals in it; when we deal with our pain by throwing our shit around the room and expecting others to just put-up-and-shut-up, then we can expect to be asked to leave.

Sometimes, when we are trying to create and offer safe spaces we have to do the hard thing and ask someone to leave.

Being asked to leave does not mean you can’t come back – that’s within your gift and your choice.

If you come to one of our groups or gatherings all we ask is that you take responsibility for your part in co-creating safety for each other.

And if you can’t do that for now- or if you choose not to – then we ask you to come back when you can.

Posted in Abuse, Healing, Learning, Trauma | 2 Comments

Confabulation TO – Wed 7th Dec 2016

Posted on December 5, 2016 by recoverynetwork:Toronto

Confabulation is a great night out in Montreal, Toronto and Victoria.
Storytelling as performance with stories that are true, mostly true and that you wanna believe to be true.

At this week’s Confabulation TO, Wed 7th Dec at 7:30pm…
Kevin Healey of recoverynet.ca and the HVN – Hearing Voices Network – will be one of the storytellers with a story about different kind of “family” , invisible freinds, an dthe importance of wierd freinds and whanau.

Confabulation – Toronto
#ConfabTO

Burdock Music Hall
1184 Bloor Street West – Toronto

Date/Time
Date(s) – Wednesday, December 7, 2016
7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

December is all about family and traditions, and even when we move to new cities, we bring along those traditions to share with our new family.

Join our Toronto Confabulation clan on Wednesday, December 7th at Burdock for Family Stories: Legend and Lore from the Ones we Love.

Tickets: $10 (http://burdockto.com/shows/?show=475)

More Confabulation- Toronto

Doors at 7pm / Show at 7:30pm

Posted in Difference and Diversity, Event, Ideas | Tagged family, Weird, whanau | Comments Off

long black veil – Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds

Posted on December 3, 2016 by recoverynetwork:Toronto

Nobody knows
Nobody sees
Nobody knows
– but me

Ten years ago on a cool dark night
There was someone killed ‘neath the town hall light
There were few at the scene and they all did agree
That the man who ran looked a lot like me

The judge said, son, what is your alibi?
If you were somewhere else, then you won’t have to die
I spoke not a word, though it meant my life
I had been in the arms of my best friend’s wife

She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave where the night winds wail
Nobody knows, no, and nobody sees
Nobody knows but me

The sky froze high and eternity neared
She stood in the crowd and shed not a tear
But sometimes at night when the cold wind moans
In a long black veil she cries over my bones

She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave where the night winds wail
Nobody knows, no, and nobody sees
Nobody knows but me

Written by Danny Dill, Marijohn Wilkin

Posted in music | Tagged Cash, Cave, Long Black Veil, nobody knows | Comments Off

Mickey Mouse and The Goodbye Man – Grinderman

Posted on December 2, 2016 by recoverynetwork:Toronto

I woke up this morning
And I thought what am I doing here?
Yeah what am I doing here?

I woke up this morning
And I thought what am I doing here?
Yeah what am I doing here?
I woke up this morning
And I thought what am I doing here?
Yeah what am I doing here?

Oh, my brother he starts raging
I watch him rising
I see him howling
And he sucked her and he sucked her and he sucked her dry
And he bit at me and he bit at me and said goodbye
Up on the twenty-ninth floor
Up on the twenty-ninth floor

Well, ah-oh
Ah-oh,

Well I was lying there with just my brother
We could hear someone ratting the locks
Yeah I was lying there with just my brother
And he said yeah man I think it might be the cops?
And we sucked her and we sucked her and we sucked her dry
Yeah we sucked her and we sucked her and we sucked her dry
I was Mickey Mouse.
He was the Big Bad Wolf

Next thing you know
I’m looking down below
See a lupine child
With her hair on fire
Little burning girl
Looking up at me
Running to the elevator
Getting in the elevator
Sixth floor
Seventh floor
Eighth floor
Nine
Come on baby
Blow my mind
Ah-oh, ah-oh
Oh yeah,

I woke up this morning and he was gone
And there were posters in the airports and the stations
We took shelter under her body
We sucked her and we sucked her and we sucked her dry
And we sucked her and we sucked her and we sucked her dry
He kissed me and kissed me and said goodbye
He kissed me and kissed me and said goodbye

Well no time at all
She’s walking down the hall
A bat-faced girl
With dynamite curls
Ringing the bell
Banging on the door
Walking like a travelator
Jumping in the elevator
Twenty-two
Twenty-four
Twenty-six
Twenty-nine
Come on baby
Blow my mind
Ah-oh, ah-oh
Yeah

Songwriters: James A Sclavunos / Warren Lee Ellis / Nicholas Edward Cave / Martyn Paul Casey

Posted in music, Uncategorized | Comments Off

we are all weird

Posted on November 28, 2016 by recoverynetwork:Toronto

Being Different is why there are so many of us.
But difference is not easy.

We just dont need to live our lives these days conforming to some narrow band in the middle of a widely dispersed distribution of wants, needs, ways of being, anything.

Not only is it possible to live outside the narrow band, but on the edges and have a life worth living – our life – its why we are here.

Normal is actually what fits under the great normal distribution bell curve in the in sky – everything.

Seth Godin, talking from a marketing perspective but the ideas are universal, philosophical – of how marketers and businesses are learning this, and having more interesting lives themselves figuring out how to offer more interesting stuff to meet different needs rather than force everyone to buy what they find easiest to make, ship and sell to us.

We are all weird is a book too…

We Are All Weird:
The Myth of Mass and The End of Compliance.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged compliance, difference, Seth Godin, Weird | Comments Off

sound of silence – Nouela

Posted on November 27, 2016 by recoverynetwork:Toronto

Hello darkness, my old friend,

Sound of Silence
Lyrics: Paul Simon

Hello darkness, my old friend,
I’ve come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
‘Neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence

“Fools” said I,
“You do not know, silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you”
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming
And the signs said,
“The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls
And whisper’d in the sounds of silence

Facebook: nouelamusic