After far too long, at last I write again. Amidst the desolate and ransacked landscape of the NHS, a few shoots of new and fresh green life are starting to emerge. Today was one of them.
After a morning of heavy rain, a week-long teapot crisis, a month-long effort to turn an almost bare patch of soil into an vibrant, nurturant and tranquil space, and a three-year long effort to get greencare off the ground - it all came together this afternoon.
Thanks to dozens of people who have been working tirelessly, energetically, creatively and because they feel an absolute passion for 'doing mental health differently'. And thanks of course to the BIG Lottery which has awarded us (as ExclusionLink) a grant to set it all up at Wexham Nursery, through its EcoMinds programme with Mind.
I'm too tired to try to put the atmosphere into words, but here's a few photos to try saying it...
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The 'cake of the yurt' which was cut at 5pm
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| Somebody said 'it looks like Baby Jesus is missing' - so we found one! |
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| Come this way, to the willow circle... |
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| Where the wishes grow on trees |
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| Like this one, which has a certain appeal for us... |
And a lot of information ended up in the programme - so it's uploaded
here for you can see more of what went on...
More later. Goodnight - and thank you all!
Sounds to me like you need a damn stonking good blogging argument.
ReplyDeleteSo let's start with this line, "Amidst the desolate and ransacked landscape of the NHS."
Excuse me? It's vivid and poetic language, but it presents a somewhat extreme and highly politicised perspective.
Can I ask whether you think the NHS could be any more desolate and ransacked - because if so, then it isn't yet. Therefore your use of such absolutist terms would appear to be dictating your thought patterns rather than the other way round.
And since the venerable old beast could be made more desolate and ransacked until it literally no longer existed, while it still does exist those terms are nothing less than distortions of reality.
And since the election the total NHS budget may no longer be growing above the rate of inflation, but it is undeniably still growing... maybe you want to get into a discussion on some of the details.
I'll admit I regularly get criticised for enthusiastic overemphasis (just don't call me Larry David, ok?), but I use the opportunity that provides to moderate myself and operate on a more even keel - maybe I can encourage you to reconsider or defend that sentence as an example.
I know it's an area where passions are easily enflamed, especially for those who depend upon it, but I'm pretty good at playing devils advocate and thats a good tool for teasing out inconsistencies.
Anyway, and in the meantime, I have a strong interest in mental health issues, so maybe you'd care to indulge me as a means to provide some more illumination on the issues.