If you really take the time to think about our human capabilities in terms of problem-soving, innovation, creative expression, artistic creation, program development, community development, technology, communication, use of resources, and more, there is likely something in this world that blows your mind. Human creativity has no bounds.

Above is a picture of a paint-ball adventure I went on years ago while doing youth work. It’s not just the fact that someone came up with the idea of paint-balling that is impressive, but that people have put their imagination into action and created a source of fun and entertainment using forest landscape, old dump-yard materials, and a concept of war-related, adrenaline-seeking excitement to draw people in to a real life video game.

I loved and hated it at the same time. Either way, the invention of paint-ball parks fascinates me in the same way all the items of the following list fascinate me:

cell phones, flip-flops, the Great Wall of China, engines, bridges, art – of all kinds, sail boats, paddle boats, airplanes, dance choreography, welding, yoga mats, fabric, gardens, backpacks, musical instruments, wood products, plastic, plastic surgery, any surgery, architecture, landscaping, sports, cultural norms, chanting, facebook, smart boards, smart cars, haul trucks, trains, igloos, tents, umbrellas, Gortex, space shuttles!, moon boots, hair spray, t-shirts, the lonely planet guides, film, National Geographic, publishing, electricity, toilets, corn rolls, keys, money, dog leashes, paper clips, zip ties, the Colosseum, stadiums, sound systems, machine guns, paint-ball guns, video games, computers, computer games, computer programs, i-everythings, blogging, microwaves, recipes, chemistry, ceramic tiles, to-go mugs, bus tickets, bingo, television, hair elastics, and ice cube trays.

Everything has been created. Each person chooses how to use his or her creativity – pro-socially or for personal advancement. Either way, we have certainly proven that creativity knows no bounds. Some people are cynical about the direction the world is going in. I agree we need to be better aware of the impact of our actions on ourselves, other living beings, and on our planet. With our potential for creativity, however, also comes the potential for problem-solving.

I don’t doubt that with each social problem we face, someone or a group of people will always rise to advocate for an innovative approach to bringing greater peace and justice to way we deal with issues collectively or through social movements. It’s the people who have either given up on tapping into their creativity all together or who have resigned to use their creativity destructively that push the pro-social innovators to innovate, move, and create change.

Thank you to all of the movers, shakers, and people who are willing to take a stand in a creative way. Songs, art, documentaries, poetry, photography, and dance are among some of the most powerful ways to communicate a message so that people will hear.

It would be impossible to state whether I am pro- or anti-medication in any generalized way. Whether to take medications or not is a personal choice and one that, no matter what my opinions about systemic issues are, is one that needs to be respected and I do listen and respect that choice when working with people individually. But the way our current medical and psychiatric system operates is beyond f*#@ed. Pardon my language. I do think we all have a responsibility in addressing some of the issues I would like to address.

I am not even sure what taking your meds mindfully would really entail. I guess I am trying to point out the fact that relying on medications vs. developing the skills of mindfulness, self-soothing, and restoring your state of well-being are contradictory to one another. Some professionals encourage both: they may prescribe a medication in order for the patient to get themselves to a state where they are willing and able to at least become motivated to begin making lifestyle changes. More often, the prescribed medications are the stand alone solution offered, along with a diagnosis that is experienced by the patient as a sentence to a life of dysfunction.

On this topic, I tend to think of one youth in particular who was referred to me because of her “anger issues”. As many other youth I work with, she was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). In addition, she had 4 other diagnoses related to her learning difficulties and was on 3 different medications aimed to address her anxiety, behavioral impulsiveness, depression, sleep disorder, and more. What the f? Seriously. Teenagers who see a psychiatrist for feelings of anger and violent tendencies are prescribed anti-psychotics and in some cases the same anti-psychotics that are prescribed for people who are in the late stages of dementia. This young girl I am referring to in particular could rime off her diagnoses and what she had learned from her experience was that she was, in fact, incapable of paying attention, healing herself, and maintaining meaningful social relationships. In a group setting, when we would lose her attention and try to draw her back, she would say “oh sorry, that’s the ADHD”. When her peers would give her feedback that she was not acting appropriately, she would shout out ‘it’s not my fault, I have x, y, z”. I didn’t even know where to start. All I knew was that this was a reflection of a systemic problem that needed some attention. It remains an area of our health care system I am committed to learn more about, challenge, and contribute to. My work often involves teaching people to unlearn some of the ways they have been taught to think about themselves and the world around them. More and more, I rely on practices of teaching mindfulness.

The psychiatrist I consult with at work once said “a learning disability is just another way of saying that a person’s brain doesn’t function in the way our education system has been developed to teach kids what they need to know in order to successfully get into university”. Ken Robinson, in his book The element: how finding your passion changes everything presents a case study of a young girl who was brought to him by her parents when she was 8, wondering about her difficulties focusing in class and whether or not there was something “wrong with her”. After observation, Robinson pointed out to the parents that their 8 year old girl simply loved to dance. He prescribed dance lessons as a way of addressing her inability to focus in class. That same young girl is now the woman who is behind the creation of some of the world’s most famous musical theater productions, including Cats and The Phantom of the Opera.

This is a complex topic and not one that holds any simple solution. I have worked with some kids who I would say do need to be medicated (hopefully, temporarily). Most often, however, I advocate for young people and their families to turn to medications as a very last resort… if at all. When university students are crushing Ritalin and sorting it as a way to stay awake while pulling an all-nighter to cram for an exam, you have to wonder how a 5 year old can be legally prescribed the same drug. A 5 year old medicated child may make the lives of his or her teachers and parents easier, but we are depriving that same child of many opportunities to learn and grow. That’s the age that many of the teenagers and adults I work with began to take medication: at the ripe age of 5.

It’s not just the diagnosis and associated prescriptions that matter, but the way the individual interprets what each of those elements of their care mean about who they are and what their potential is limited to.

Thich Nhat Hahn, a Vietmanese Zen monk and world-renown teacher of mindfulness, says “Mindfulness is when you are truly here, mind and body together. It gives birth to joy and happiness. Another source of happiness is concentration. The energy of mindfulness carries within it the energy of concentration.” Everyone has the potential of developing a mindful state of being. The thing is, some people need to move in order to concentrate.

The human mind, body, and spirit are amazing elements of an intriguing interconnection of something I still haven’t quite fully grasped – and never will. I woke up this morning thinking about the very basic notions of life and death; the certainty of the impermanence of life and the ambiguity of the afterlife. I know…morbid and deep thoughts to be having first thing in the morning. Have you ever had those weird moments when you really wonder what the point of it all is and what our very human existence is all about? I get into these moments of taking myself very seriously about things (as I have blogged about before) and then I snap out of it and wonder what the hell the point of of it all is – the point of life and our human emotions, mostly.

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?

You know when you have one thought and then it leads to another, then another? So, I googled (yes – “to google” is now officially a verb) the famous soliloquy spoken by Hamlet. It sparked a reflection about the different ways in which people experience seemingly unbearable circumstances in life. I ask every single young person that I work with, at some point in our work together, whether they have ever contemplated suicide. Sometimes, I get a clear “yes” along with a series of stories of past suicide attempts. If I hadn’t asked the question outright, I may have never known. Other times, I get a clear “no” and they have a puzzled look on their faces, wondering why I would even ask such a question. More often than not, the response I get is “no, but I have definitely thought about it or thought about wishing my life would just end”. These conversations then sometimes lead us down a path of discussing beliefs systems and I ask the person who is sitting in front of me to share a bit about what they believe about life and death; what they believe about mental health and their own capacity to live a happy and healthy life; what it is that keeps them going despite the examination of whether it is worth living and believing rather than bringing it all to an end at the risk of not knowing what comes in the afterlife.

The spiritual ambiguity of the world we live in is fascinating to me. By spirituality, I would like to step away from direct association with religion. I would rather look at it from the perspective of how one makes sense of life and death and how one navigates the certainty that life will someday come to an end, without any agreed upon evidence of what comes next. You have people who cling to a belief system and share their understanding of it as a truth they have come to know with certainty – this faith in something may be the very thing that gives them the strength to wake up each morning with a willingness to be and accept the cards they have been dealt. You have others who describe an aversion to religion and state that they don’t believe in anything and see life in a much more logical and pragmatic way – sometimes with a cynicism that causes more suffering. And then you have those that lie anywhere in between the two extremes of dogmatic beliefs and complete non-belief in anything. One could argue that a complete non-belief in anything is a belief in and of itself.

I am not really sure where I am going with this thought. It’s sort of a weird reflection to be sharing and yet it’s one I think about often. Why? Scientific evedence has shown that those who have a spiritual belief, according to the definition I gave above, demonstrate a greater ability to overcome the adversity of life. Is this because of a simple ability to embrace the uncertainties of life? One great psychiatrist who has explored this notion is Viktor E. Frankl, in his descriptions of his experiences of having laboured in four different Nazi death camps and his examination of lessons on spiritual survival. In his book, Man’s Search for Meaning, Frankl agrees with many others who have studied and explored this notion: “we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose”. After all, we each make up our own meanings and interpretations of all the things we can never know with any certainty.

I also googled images for “spirituality”. I got the kind of images you are probably imagining. Try it. There are some funny representations out there that fit the stereotype of an image that you are probably imagining – cosmic art, silhouettes dancing in the sky, and tunnels of light. The image I attached in this post was one of the more grounded ones. I somehow thought a grounded representation of spirituality felt more normal – whatever that means.

Namaste – The spirit in me salutes the spirit in you – with total and complete ambiguity of what that even means.